Albus Potter and the Drevolink's Revenge
by The Amber Author
Summary: Albus' first year holds many surprises- but unfortunately, he and his cousin Rose, along with Scorpius Malfoy and the gang, don't get the calm, peaceful first years their parents hope they have. With the rise of a new threat that can tip the balance of the magical and muggle world and change their lives forever, what can a bunch of first years-afraid of their sorting-do, really?"
1. A Typical Potter Morning

_The four, long house tables seemed to stretch forever- colorful banters merged to form a mocking silver and green combination which seemed to be spitting right at him, taunting him, telling him that was where he belonged._

_He tried to walk calmly down to the table but students were hissing at him, jeering and pointing._

_You belong with us, they said, with so much determination that he couldn't help but believe them._

_With shaking hands, he placed the sorting hat on top of his head. Immediately, it spoke in a harsh, above-all voice._

_"Albus Severus Potter...you wish to be a Gryffindor, eh?"_

_'Yes!' he thought frantically. 'Gryffindor...Please, Gryffindor...'_

_"I see..._

_Albus' heart skipped a beat._

_"SLYTHERIN!"_

_His blood went cold- his body tensed, and his mouth opened in a sharp gasp. The students around the tables started sneering, yelling, and telling him they had always know he'd belonged there._

_Terrified, he didn't move. But then, Albus felt a sick sensation, like a snake crawling around his body- with a jolt, he realized that one _was_._

_He tried to yell out, to move, but he was simply frozen there, helpless, as he saw the snake curling around his body, suspending him there, slowly forcing the air out of his lungs-_

Albus sat up in bed, gasping, a hand over his heart, and sweat running down his face. Feeling irritated and terrified, Albus slid his legs of his bed, hiding his face in his hands.

It was another one of those dreams- Slytherin, it was _always _Slytherin. Albus blamed his brother James for these none-ending nightmares. Being in Slytherin had become what had been taking up his mind ever since his Hogwarts letter arrived. Albus hated how James could lead his way into his nerves that easily- he always seemed to know what scared him most. Albus hopped of his bed and rushed to the bathroom- in a flash, he brushed his teeth, threw on a pair of clothes, and then jumped on his four-poster again, ready to loose himself to thought- it always helped after one of his dream. Thinking things through, making up original ways to proove he _didn't _belong in the house of the snakes. He knew he should have been going down for breakfast, according to the rattle and sounds from the kitchen, but he felt like he needed to clear his mind up first

Before Albus could attempt to make an effort and stand up again, a small, red-head that looked like a carbon copy of his mother stomped up to his room.

"AL!" Lily yelled, poking her head through his door, looking rather annoyed. "MUM SAYS TO COME DOWN FOR BREAKFAST!"

"All right, all right!" Albus groaned, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I'm here, you know? You don't have to yell."

Lily, the normally sweet girl, huffed, and slammed the door behind her- It unhinged, and flew at Albus. Horrified, he ducked immediately- the door flew over his head, struck the walls of his room, and shattered into tiny pieces. Lily, who was completely oblivious to her show of accidental magic, stomped down the stairs.

"DAD!" Albus heard a voice yell- from the annoyance in it, he guessed it was James'. Albus grudgingly carried himself down the stairs.

His brother James, was sitting at the table, groaning into his bowl of Veerio's Cornflakes. Since Albus' mother and father had vivid red and black hair respectively, James sort of got stuck in between. His hair was a dark caramel brown. His eyes were brown with golden flecks, and he had a spray of freckles across his face. Grandpa and Grandma Weasley, Hagrid, and pretty much everyone who knew him said that James looked exactly like his grandfather, who was also his namesake. Albus took a seat next to his father, who was reading the Daily Prophet. His family greeted him as usual.

"I think Lily wrecked another wall." he stated bluntly. His father put down the Daily Prophet he was reading, sighing. Lily scowled.

"James, don't tease your sister." Ginny said firmly, levitating some scrambled egg onto Albus' plate, and pouring him pumpkin juice. He immediately dug in.

"It's true!" James protested, waving his hands around indignantly.

And indeed it was. Lily was a little too upset that she wasn't going to Hogwarts until two years to come, a reason for which Albus was confused- he certainly hadn't been that upset when James had left for Hogwarts. But Lily was more than upset- she was _furious. _Since Albus had gotten his letter, she had gone barmy. They had doors flying, windows shattering, house-hold items bursting into flame, and indeed, walls wrecked.

"Two years..." Lily muttered, her eyes twinkling with wetness. "I don't want to wait that long!"

Ginny smiled at her daughter reassuringly, turning her attention away from the bacon for a few moments. "I know...We'll talk about it later, honey. I was the youngest one in the family once, too. Merlin knows how I managed to keep myself in tact when Ron went to Hogwarts."

Lily stayed silent after that, but still looked annoyed.

"You had only one year to wait, and Uncle Bill and Charlie could visit anytime." James chimed in. Ginny gave him a glare that silenced him, clearly telling him that he wasn't helping.

"But she was hugely overshadowed." Harry said patiently, having picked up his Prophet again. "Imagine seeing all six of your brothers going to Hogwarts before you got the chance to." Albus could tell that was true, from his mother's expression. It was something he prided himself on- detecting lies, that was. And reading body language. It came as a sort of natural skill to him.

Lily seemed to be weighting the odds in her mind and thinking about it, and she must have decided her mother had had it worse because she didn't argue again. James, however, didn't feel like eating in silence.

"When are we off to Diagon Alley?" he groaned, playing around with his food.

"Just after breakfast." Harry said cheerfully. "We'll get dressed and floo to the Leaky Cauldron- no, James, before you can ask, we can't stop at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes again- remember what happened the last time we were there after we managed to get you your books on the list?"

"That was only one shelf!" James demanded. "Besides, I didn't mean to blow the Cackling Crackers up- I was aiming for the Pygmy Puffs, an I was only trying to see if the Fireless Fireworks really did work well." James said defensively, frowning into his bowl of cereal.

"What have you got against Pygmy Puffs!" Lily screeched."They're tiny, and innocent, and they didn't do anything to you!"

"That's why he picks on them." Albus pointed out, to which James' protest went ignored. "It's just like that Hippogriff Uncle Charlie brought last summer, remember?"

"Yes," Ginny sighed, turning off the stove. "I remember that all too well. And James, I swear, if you harass one more magical creature-"

"Yeah, yeah." James groaned. "You'll snap my broom in two and throw it in a pit of Feindfyre."

He had memorized all his mother's threats by heart.

-O-

"Ready?" Ginny asked nervously, dusting James' suit, much to his annoyance, trying to flatten Albus' hair simply out of habit (which was no use at all) and making sure Lily had her coat on right.

"I'll go first!" James said at once. He grabbed the pouch of floo powder out of his father's hand, threw some into the flames, and yelled, _"Diagon Alley!"_

The flaes took a green hue, crackling, and welcoming James as he practically hopped in. Albus had no idea at all why his brother enjoyed flooing- he hated it, and the diziness it brought along was not welcome, either. However, out of fear of ending up in the wrong place and no one noticing it, Albus went second.

_"Diagon Alley!" _Albus bellowed as the flames licking the fireplace turned green. Smoke issued to his face and he coughed slightly before running at the fireplace, his elbows firmly on his sides.

The world was a blur of colors, like that muggle roller coaster he was once foreced to ride with his Aunt Hermione...his environment swung and twisted about, reality itself was flying past him in mere seconds- Albus fell onto the polished, wooden floor of the Leaky Cauldron.

Blinking, he brought his eyes up, only to be met with a snickering James and a genuinely concerned looking Hannah Longbottom, busily polishing a glass.

"Hello, Albus." she said, offering him her hand. Albus took it gratefully, and stood up. "Are you quite all right? I know you don't like to floo."

"Fine, thanks." Albus said, throwing James, who was still snorting, a dirty look. "Is Neville here?" he asked hopefully.

"No, sorry." Hannah sighed, setting the glass down on the counter by the fireplace. "He's been called to a meeting by Headmistress McGonagall- some update on security or something."

"Oh, that's fine." Albus said, trying not to sound disappointed. Neville Longbottom, who was also Albus' godfather, had promised to join them on a sort of family-shopping program. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione were bringing Rose and Hugo for Hogwarts shopping that day, too, and Neville had promptly agreed to accompany the Weasley and Potter family to Diagon Alley with his son, Augustus (who was a fourth year- an year above James). Somehow, presence of family always made Albus more at ease.

Three more figures hastily tumbled out of the floo- Ginny, quickly followed by Harry, who was carrying Lily tightly as she clutched to his sides.

"Hello, Hannah!" Ginny said pleasantly.

"Hello." Harry greeted her, smiling, as he set Lily down. She ran to give Hannah a tight hug.

The senior Potters looked around, acknowledging Neville's absence, too. "Is Neville here?" Harry asked slowly, as if expecting the answer.

Hannah apologized for her husband's absence again. " Augustus' done his shopping alone today this morning." she heaved a longing sigh, as if that fact annoyed her greatly. "As for Neville...He's in for a staff meeting with McGonagall to update Hogwarts security because...well, you know."

"Ah." Comprehension seemed to dawn on Harry's face. "I see."

"What- what do you see?" James said, snapping his full attention to his father. Harry and Ginny shared a look. Ginny's lips thinned into a line, and Harry closed his eyes for a few seconds, as if thinking through something, then opened them again, sighing.

"Nothing." Albus' dad said firmly. Albus didn't even need his lie-detecting skills to figure out his father wasn't telling the truth.

"It didn't look like it was nothing." James pointed out, and Albus couldn't help but agree as his curiosity piqued. Lily, too, was staring at her parents in wonder.

"James, just let it drop." Ginny said, with an additional amount of irritation.

James folded his arms defiantly. "But-"

"James," Harry said quietly, bending down to stare James in the eyes. His lowered tone was due to the amount of stares they were getting- another reason why Albus liked the Leaky Cauldron was because most of the people who went there were either really respective for privacy and minded their own business, or either some of his dad's old friends, who knew him well enough, and wouldn't bother asking for an autograph from the famous Potter. But when some secret stuff was involved, no one could help but listen in.

"Why don't you go down to Wheezes and get something nice?" Harry whispered- he grimaced, as if he couldn't believed what he had just said. Ginny looked scandalized.

"Oh, all right!" she sighed, fishing out a bag of Galleons and reluctantly handing them to an astonished James.

"Mum!" Lily protested, looking just as shocked as Albus felt. "You can't give him that- he'll try and set the Pygmy Puffs on fire again!" She had said that a little too loudly, for a few laughs echoed through the Leaky Cauldron. From his mother's eye roll and huff of defeat, Albus figured that she knew that perfectly well.

James looked at the bag of Galleons like it was his solace or something. He looked back at his parents again, blinking, as if trying to figure out if it was all a hallucination, wishful thinking.

"Go ahead." Harry muttered, the grimace still on his face. Jame's face broke into a grin- he turned of his feet, and then ran off as fast as he could.

"Don't blow anything up!" Ginny called after her son. But he was gone before she could get the whole sentence out.

"Did we really have to do that?" she asked, turning on Harry.

He shrugged at her. "No other choice, Gin." he turned back to Albus and Lily. "Now, we've got to get along with our shopping- I can't bribe the two of you with Wheezes products, but I trust you'll be a little more restrained about it that James, won't you?"

Albus and Lily nodded frantically, though Albus was still pretty curious- however, that happened all the time. His dad, who was former Head Auror (he had resigned in order to spend more time with his family) usually kept secrets that his kids could barely even sniff out- James, being a natural trouble maker, just couldn't keep his nose out of that stuff. Lily and Albus, on the other hand, had quickly learned that no amount of persuasion would get their father to spill any beans.

They headed out of the Leaky Cauldron, and as soon as they did, their paparazzi free time ended there- people, some with their kids doing shopping, some just going about, kept stopping Albus' dad, shaking his hands, some kids shyly asking for his autograph.

Albus hated it- but he was used to it, anyway. His dad had been getting them since before the day Albus even knew what paparazzi were.

"It was worse the first few years," Harry muttered as he gave a squealing ten-year old her notepad back. She scampered away happily.

"Oh, don't remind me." his wife said. She turned to her children with a tired sigh. "Let's go get you your school robes."

Fifteen minutes, seven autographs, two selfies, and one student ahead of line later, Albus was ready from dressing at Madame Malkin's.

He stood up on the stool in the dress room which was separated by a shiny, white thin wooden wall. It was high enough for him to get his privacy as the magical measuring scales whizzed up and about, taking his size accurately, however slowly, but it was just low enough for him to see who was dressing in the next room.

It was a boy, with dark, but bright blonde hair. He had shining blue eyes, like volts of electricity and streaks of lightning. His messy blond hair fell only a little above his eyes, and he had a thin, complexion. He seemed to have noticed Albus, but didn't talk to him or say hello. It surprised him- Albus half expected whomever he saw to yell something about him being the Boy-Who-Lived's son. He decided he liked this bloke.

"Hello." Albus said slowly. The boy looked like a first year, and it would be good to make friends while he could. The blond boy turned to him, surprised at being addressed.

"Um, hi." he said sheepishly, smiling slightly. "Uh, Hogwarts?" He said it reluctantly, as if he wasn't sure what reaction that would attract from Albus.

"Yes." Albus said, smiling back. The boy sighed in relief. "It's my first year- yours too?" The boy nodded, growing slightly less uncomfortable.

"I'm Albus Potter- nice to meet you."

The boy must have been a Muggle-Born, because he didn't recognize Albus by his last-name (which he was grateful for).

"I'm Rick Johanson. Nice to meet you, too." Rick turned to Albus with a new light in his eyes. "Er...it's my first time in Hogwarts, see. How's it like?"

"I figured." Albus said, cocking his head to the side curiously. "Are you a Muggle-born?"

The discomfort rushed back into Rick's eyes in an instant. He turned back to his own stall. "Urm...you could say that."

Not wanting to have his new acquaintance think he was prejudiced about family blood-lines, Albus rushed into a description of all he knew about Hogwarts- how huge the castle with seven floor and several towers, was, the lake, the Giant Squid, the Sorting Hat, the houses, and last of all, the classes.

"What house do you think you'll be sorted in?" Rick asked curiously. He looked at ease again, which Albus was thankful for.

"Well, my entire family, for the past seven generations, has been sorted into Gryffindor- the house of the brave, you know? Like, all of them- the Prewetts, the Weasley, and the Potters, us. So..."

"You think you'll be there, too?"

"Well, yes. At least, I'm hoping."

A pause. "Where will I be sorted?"

Albus scratched his head uncertainly as the measuring tape flew out of the way. It hissed at him with its long, yellow tongue, and went back to measuring.

"I don't know...The Sorting Hat will, though. It'll put you where you belong. Me, too, I suppose."

"And maybe we'll be sorted into the same house?"

Albus smiled. "Yeah, maybe. But it wouldn't matter if we're sorted differently- we can still talk, you know?"

He only barely heard Rick mutter, "I know..." before the measuring scales, tapes, and rulers hit the floor- Rick looked at them in amazement.

"You're all fitted!" Madame Malkin called. "Come down, dear!"

Albus hopped off the stool, waved at Rick, and then ran down to greet his parents.

"Done, now?" Ginny asked, as she payed for his robes. A young witch with a badge that said 'Lirra' collected the money cheerfully and handed Ginny her change. Harry tried to clear his children out before anymore crazy paparazzi found them, when he came face to face wtih someone. That someone, Albus knew. And he knew Albus, too.

"Harry," Nico whispered.

"Nico." Harry and Ginny said in surprise. Conversation immediately exploded between them. The old friends shared hugs, hand shakes, greetings, and frantic talks. Nico thumped Albus on the back, and Lily, all her anger and disappointment forgotten, jumped onto Nico, latching onto him from dear life. Laughter followed the tiny group.

"Oh, it's been long." Nico smiled.

"Oh, yes it has." Ginny laughed. "About four weeks, I believe."

Nico grinned up at her mischievously. "That's a lot of time in my book. How are you, Princess Andromeda?" he asked Lily. She giggled- it was that thing they always had. Nico said Lily was just as beautiful and head-strong as Andromeda, wife of Perseus the old Greek hero that he had told them about it myths. Just at that moment, James ran in, pockets bulging with Weasley products, soot on his face, and a wide grin- the grin only widened when he saw Nico.

"NICO!" he yelled jubilantly. The kids who were being fitted into school-robes looked at the group of them, startled.

James ran up to Nico- the latter placed Lily down to give James a complicated hand shake that included several fist-bumps and finger-linking, ending with a single high-five. Nico, beside perhaps Albus' Uncle George, was the only adult James had any real respect for.

"So, what are you doing here in Diagon Alley?" Ginny asked him conversationally. Nico shrugged. He had long, neck-length black hair with matching eyes, a fairly pale complexion, and wore all black, expect maybe his slightly lighter aviator jacket which he always had on every time Albus saw him. He didn't know much about Nico, expect that he had helped in the Second War years ago- he looked really young- in his early thirties, in fact, but Albus' dad had said Nico had a tendency to look younger than his age, albeit being only an year younger than Harry himself. Albus liked Nico well enough- he was cool, calm, and had a strong aura that made anyone, even people who barely knew him, trust him for no particular reason.

"I've been taking care of my charge- poor chap. Been Muggle-raised, you know? Doesn't know a thing about magic. Actually, Neville was supposed to take him, but he's at that Staff-Meeting."

"And about staff meetings," Harry said, his voice laced with amusement. "aren't you going to be teaching this year?"

James' mouth dropped open, and Albus' with it. "What subject are you taking?"

"Practical Defense and Combat Techniques. But only for this year. That post was empty, and no one would take it...they offered me either this one, or Survival Sensory, but someone else took that." Nico answered, grinning. Harry and Ginny shared amused laughter.

"Isn't Practical Defense an option for third-years?" Albus asked curiously.

"Yeah, I've taken it!" James said, puffing out his chest proudly. "Nico's going to be teaching us this year- this is going to be so cool!"

Nico gave James a look of question. "You don't start offence combat until fifth-year, you know? It's only defense for you guys." James looked slightly put out after that.

The adults went back to their boring talks- the conversation switched from Quidditch ("Brazil is going the crush Puddlemore this year!") to daily life, to jobs, until Albus finally toned out.

He saw, to his delight, Rick walking out of the changing section, holding a bag with robes in it. He took one look at Albus and his family, and then another at Nico, and he mirrored Albus' curiosity, though not his shock.

As soon as Nico saw Rick, however, he waved to him, smiling. Rick hesitantly made his way to Nico, who dug out a bag of Galleons and handed it to Lirra (whom Albus noticed tried to look like she wasn't eavesdropping on their conversation).

"Hi!" Albus said.

"Hello, again." Rick said, still looking confused.

Harry and Ginny looked at Rick questioningly, then at Nico. "Ah..I take it this is your charge?" Harry asked Nico. He nodded.

"Harry, Ginny, James, and Lily- this is P-"

"Rick." Rick said immediately.

"...er, right, Rick Johanson. Albus, I see you've already met him. Rick- these are my friends, Harry and Ginny Potter, and their children."

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. And, erm...Albus' siblings" Rick said pleasantly. Harry and Ginny greeted him. Lily waved shyly, and Albus noticed, without comprehending why, her cheeks turning pink. James nodded at him- as if to say, if he was hanging out with Nico, then he was allowed to be cool.

"Now-we'd best go get Rick his pet, then maybe stop at Wheezes, huh?" Nico asked, taking the bag of robes from Rick.

"Of course." Harry said. "Nice seeing you, Nico."

"You too, Harry." Nico returned. "Ron, Hermione, and kids are at Flourish and Blotts, by the way. They're waiting for you."

And with that, Nico left with Rick at his ankles, following quickly.

"That bloke was weird." James commented later, as they were walking to Flourish and Blotts. "The one with Nico..."

"Who, Rick?" Albus said, eyebrows shooting upwards. "Why?"

James shrugged. "I dunno...It's just, since when did Muggle-borns..or Muggle-raised's...whatever, since when did they have to have someone with them- don't their parents take them?"

"Your father went with Hagrid." Ginny said.

"Yes, but that's a different case- I don't much imagine Great Uncle Vernon taking him for shopping, do you?"

Albus' Great Uncle Vernon really did seem to hate magic for some reason. Albus didn't know why- his Great Aunt Petunia seemed tolerant of it, and his Uncle Dudley and his kids were accepting. All that he knew was that his father didn't like talking about it, and Albus didn't fancy seeing his father upset.

"You'll just have to ask him that." Harry pointed out. "Just don't hit a sore spot, all right?" he said, eyeing James cautiously.

James feigned a hurt expression- he threw his hands in the air, rolling his eyes. "I'm off to see Aaron and Fred." he demanded as he ran toward Eelyop's Owl Emporium without waiting for response. His parents sighed in unison- Lily just looked worried.

"What's he going there for!" Lily demanded shrilly. "He better not be using Uncle George's products on any more animals!"

"Don't worry, Lils." Ginny said, her eyes blazing. "As long as he has a broom I can snap, that won't be happening."

She was just reaching for the door when a family of four were out of it. Greeting them with a grin, Uncle Ron came out, holding Hugo over his shoulders. Aunt Hermione held her children's books, while Rose, Albus' Favorited cousin and best-friend, had about half a dozen out- of list books clutched to her chest tightly.

"Harry!" Ron greeted first as Ginny advanced on his Aunt Hermione.

"Good seeing you, Ron." Harry smiled as Ginny and Hermione engaged themselves in conversation. Hugo was yelling to Lily from on top of Ron's shoulders until he realized this and put him down. Albus immediately walked to Rose.

"Hi!" he said brightly.

"Hi." she echoed excitedly. "Have you been to Ollivander's yet? We're going there next."

"No," Albus admitted, though he felt excitement bubble up inside him- getting his wand was the most thing he looked forward to. "We could go together, right? D'you mind waiting for us?"

"Oh, there won't be any need." Rose said, grinning. "We've seen Nico with his charge a few minutes ago...Rick, he said his name was."

"Oh, I know." Albus said. "I've talked to him- nice bloke. But what about Nico?"

"Well, he told us that he told you we were here, and dad's told Mr. Blott to set another pile of first and third year books for Harry Potter's son, and he did. So all Uncle Harry has to do, really, is walk in, pay, and we can go to Ollivander's together!"

Albus felt a pang of annoyance. Of course. They would do anything for the famous Harry Potter.

"Dad!" Albus said to his father. "Can I go with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione and Rose to get my wand while you and mum get our books?" he asked.

Harry turned form his conversation with Ron to nod at Albus. "Take Lily with you, though." Rose beamed at him.

"It won't take a second." she assured. "He'll be there before it's even your turn."

Rose was right. Ollivanders was as crowded as it had ever been. People stormed in- some taking a short time, some a long one. All, however, came out of the shop, beaming, holding their new wands proudly. Albus was beginning to grow scared that perhaps, a wand wouldn't choose his after all- though of course he didn't voice these fears to Rose, who was positively beaming. Rose was semi-right about his parent's being there- a few turns before Rose and Albus, Ginny joined them, but Albus' dad was no where to be seen.

"Where's Uncle Harry?" Hugo asked, finally.

"He's...been called. Auror matters." Albus could see that his mother was extremely annoyed at this, and Albus knew exactly how she was feeling- it was more than a little annoying to think that his own father barely even had time for family shopping.

"Where's James, then?" Lily asked. "He didn't hurt any owls, did he? Why are he and his friends there anyway?"

"Most likely to get on your nerves without him even being there." Albus suggested. Rose snickered beside him.

"Albus, don't concern your sister."

"What! But I didn't do anything!"

His Uncle Ron laughed. "He's right, Ginny. Lay off him-I say, you might accidentally fire another Bat-Bogey hex if you're not to careful."

"Oh, Ron." Ginny exclaimed, sighing. "That was almost twenty two years ago! I was a fifth year for Merlin's sake."

Ginny and Ron started bickering, while Hermione was trying to talk Lily out of sulking- finally, it was Albus and Rose's turn.

"Naykst!" said the man working there, calling them into the shop. Ginny and Hermione gave their children encouraging looks while Ron advised: "Oi, don't blow up the store. We'll be watching from the windows- make for a more dramatic choice."

Rose and Albus laughed nervously as they trudged into the store- Ollivander's shop was just like it had been two years ago, when Albus had come to get James' wand with his parents. He was extremely jealous back then, but now, he was giddy with excitement. He could tell my Rose's awkward shuffling that she was jittery, too.

Boxes of wands that looked as though they had never been touched- shelves of different qualities and quantities- the dust itself seemed magical in that store.

"Ollivander's is the best wand shop in England," he faintly recalled his father saying, once.

The man who ran the store while old Mr. Ollivander was out discovering new theories and upgrading Wandology was a fairly young man- he had a black, dramatically curled mustache, and a certain glint in his warm brown eyes. He did not wear robes- he was a simple red-cat with matching black pants and combat boots. His head was a sleek, stylish but thick mop of black, and he looked delighted to see them there.

"Ah, yowng Monsieur Potter and Mademoiselle Weasley!" he said gleefully with a thick french accent.

"I have been axpecting you...Oui, oui. Come here, Mademoiselle." Rose nervously walked up to the french man. He pulled out something from an old box in the corner that looked oddly like those muggle weighting-scale thingies that told someone who much they weighted. He tapped the thing with his long wand, and trop it's back end, a long, silvery mist-like line materialized from the wands tip, as the man dragged his wand until the silver, translucent vapor was almost taller than him.

"Hm...S'il vous plait, Mademoiselle Weasley, step up on the Khineteec meshur-ur." he ordered

Rose obeyed nervously, standing on the khineteec meshur-ur thing. As soon as she did, the silvery vapor swung into action- it moved left and right like and upside down pendulum, then, and without any warning, it twisted, loosing it's straight composure, and twirled itself around Rose, binding her in translucent mist. Rose nearly shrieked, but Albus had seen James on that thing before, so he was considerably less panicked- the silver stings, however let go of Rose- they unbinded her, much to her relief, and the fell to the floor- silver, but as solid as ever. Relieved, Rose stepped down from the meshur-ur thing, as the man picked up the silver strings and looked at it with wide eyes, inspecting every last inch of it.

"Ah, how very, very, odd, Mademoiselle." he muttered. With a wave of his wand, the string vaporized and dispersed again. Without thinking much of it, the man open a huge box with 'C2' marked on it. He pulled out a long, dark wand, and handed it to Rose, who took it with shaking hands.

"Mahoghany, treize- thirteen eenches, phoenix tail feather core, elemental power- lightning. Good from charms work." he said.

Rose excitedly waved her wand, but nothing happened. She waved it again. The man swiftly took the wand out of her hand and threw it casually back in the box before picking out another one- he did not seem the least bit bothered by the failure of the first attempt. Rose tried three more wands before finally finding hers-

"Banyan, ten and de half eenches, unicorn mane hair core, elemental power- water. Very swishy."

Just touching that wand, Albus could tell that Rose was feeling something special- she looked at the man with wonder in her eyes.

"This is the one," she whispered. "It's the one Mister..."

"Pierre, Madmoiselle." he said, looking smug. "You have high brain power and special ways of theenking, Madmoiselle Weasley. Banyan, is a tree so strong eets roots can be seen. Combined with unicorn mane and elemental water, you always have a very peaceful and organized mind."

Rose blushed.

"Now, Monsieur Potter. Step up to the Khineteec meshur-ur." Albus had a feeling that wasn't really the thing's name, but just what the man's accent made it sound like. He obliged either way, feeling slightly nervous.

The vapor swung around like a pendulum again, and then, wrapped itself round Albus- it was then that he realized it wasn't actually making any contact with his skin, but simply giving the impression- either way, he felt cold- as if he was walking out in January without a coat. The feeling quickly re-treated, however, when the wisp of silver solidified and fell onto the floor.

Albus went to stand next to Rose again (who was trying to wave her wand around without anyone realizing) feeling giddy- what if no wand choose him? What if there simply wasn't one that would accept him?

Before he even had time to fuss about it anymore, Pierre had his eyes wide as he checked the string, and Albus vaguely wondered what he was seeing.

"Ah, I never thought I would find someone who fit these qualities, Monseiur Potter...But it seems, you have a very combative combination, in-deed." He waved his wand again, and the string of silver smoked up and blended into the air again. Casually, he walked to a shelf, and slowly, as if afraid it would explode, he pulled it down to the floor. The box read 'KS-16'.

Even slower, he opened the box and gingerly took out a wand- Albus was uncomfortably with how warily Pierre was handling the wands- was there something wrong with them? Albus didn't want to go to school with a wand that didn't work well.

Like a king handing his Musketeer a sword, Pierre held out the wand to Albus. "Co-co-ah. Neuf and de half eenches, Devil Snare core, elemental power- ice."

Albus reached for the wand, but before he could even touch, Pierre pulled it away, throwing it in the box labelled 'KS-16', muttering 'Non, non..." He pulled another wand- this one was stark white.

"Ash," he said holding it even more gingerly. Even Rose stopped playing with he wand to look at the wand curiously.

"Fore-teen eenches, Phoenix feather core, elemental power- dirt." When Albus held that wand, about five boxes fell to the floor with a thud- opening up and scattering wands in every direction. Rose jumped and held on to his arm. Pierre didn't seem bothered.

After approximately forty wands, each giving a disastrous reaction (mini-blizzards, waves of fire, and upturned boxes) and each held more cautiously than the ones before it, Albus was starting to loose hope. He closed his eyes, fearing the worst. Rose was the only one beside him as their parents ahd opted to simply watch out the windows, for some reason.

Pierre was sounding deadly serious as he said the next words. "Monsieur Potter...ah, this is very cue-ree-us. I have only one wand that should sap-o-sed-lee match you. But be warned- it is a pro-to-type. It may not be ready yet."

"Let him try it." Rose said, clearly not wanting to upset Albus. Pierre shrugged, and pulled one last wand out of the group.

His hand emerged with a long, pale looking wand. He held it so lightly he may as well have been planning to drop it, but his grip tightened as he held it out to Albus.

"Acacia...Phoenix ash core. Twelve and a quar-tar eenches, Elemental power...undetermined. Although we theenk it is eithar fire, lightning, or electric-ity."

His hands shaking, Albus took the wand- and at once, his hear started flying as a gust of wind blew at his face, making him take a breath in not shock, but amazement. Colorful blue, red, green, and yellow sparks flew from the tips of his wand, only fueling his excitement.

Rose squealed with delight and ran to hug him. Pierre looked very solemn. At that moment- three blabbering adults walked inside- Ron, Hermione, and Ginny walked in.

"Oh, Al, you were holding up the line forever!" Ginny said. Lily paced as she and Hugo followed at their parents' heals. She looked at her mother. "Mum, will I take this much time when I come to get my wand?"

"Let's hope not- Al's caused quite a commotion out there." Ginny said conversationally, as Albus grinned sheepishly. "How much, Pierre?" she asked.

"Oh, non, non!" Pierre said quickly, waved his hands around like a mime actor. "I can not accept anything for this very special wand...Even with the Khineetec Meshur-ur, it was hard finding his match...and a very cu-ree-us match it is, too."

"Really?" Hermione said, sounding genuinely surprised. "I thought Kinetic Measures were supposed to narrow down the range of options hugely."

"In-deed." Pierre nodded. "Mias avec Monsieur Potter here...it is a very different case. Acacia- the only tree known to ex-eest in the Sahara desert- Monsieur Ollivander has risked many to own a small amount of it's wood-Phoenix ash-"

"Phoenix ash?" Hermione asked incredulously. "Don't you mean feather?"

"Non, non, Madame!" Pierre said hurriedly. "The very ash from which the Phoenix is re-born. I do not qwe-ree how Monsieur Ollivander has gained this, but it is very rare. Have vous not noticed? Acacia- a tree which had survived great loss of water in the hottest spot of the world, and Phoenix ash, which is the essence of fire itself. We are, however, very doubting of it's elemental mag-ic- it is related with fire, that we know. Fire, lightning, and, or electricity. This is a wand of a survivor- a fighter. An adap-tar. But those who have those skills usually _need _to survive."

"Three Elements?" Ron asked raising his eyebrows. He threw his hands up in the air in mock-exasperation. "Never asked when a Potter's involved."

"Is it strange to have three elements?" Albus asked his Aunt.

"It's...unique." Hermione answered. "Powerful wands usually have two elements to the maximum, but three? I believe your wand's simply a case of confusion between elements- modern wandlore has quite strange theories nowadays. You can know your precise element after getting a little familiar with your wand, though, so don't worry."

"Anyway, Pierre- we're not going ot of here before you let us pay. Let us pay for Rose, at least."

Pierre shrugged, defeated. "If you inseest, Monseiur Weasley."

Albus left Ollivanders with many thought revolving around his head.

**Hope you like this chapter- I jsut honestly couldn't resist publishing it...Sorry. So, if anyone guess Rick's really first name? It's not Richard...Though you'll have a pretty good idea if you watch Sponge-bob :P. And which house should Albus be sorted into? I already decided, but I like to take a look on the public opinion-**

**1) Slytherin**

**2) Gryffindor**

**3) Ravenclaw**

**4) Hufflepuff.**

**Thanks!**

**And I've added a few subjects to Hogwarts- Survival Sensory, Practical Defense, and finally, Wizardring Laws and Philosophies.**

**~Ambs.**


	2. Galbus, Salbus, Ralbus, and Halbus

Albus sat, still, as the sorting hat was placed over his head. He waited, anticipating, waiting for the shout that would announce his residence in the house of the snakes...But it did not come.

_You might want to take me off, now._ the hat chuckled. Albus was confused...what was different about this dream? Somehow, it felt more...real. But he knew it was a dream. It had to be. Albus pulled the hat off his head, wondering what in the world was happening. When he came face to face with someone, however, he confirmed that it was a dream. He fell off the stool in shock.

"Woah, there!" said the boy in front of him- he was a first year, too. He was short, with bright green eyes and hair as dark as night. He looked a little healthier, and a tad more cheerful too, but it was definitely Albus.

He held out his hand to Albus, and that was when he realized something- hitting the ground had _hurt._ In a bloody dream. Still not knowing what to do, Albus simply stared at the wanna-be Albus' hand, and his eyes slowly moved to his upper-body.

Not-Albus was wearing clean Hogwarts robes with a shiny, yellow and black Hogwarts tie.

"Aren't you going to let me help you?" he said uncertainly. Deciding there was nothing to loose, Albus grasped his hand, and he swore he could feel its warmth, even in a dream. He was beginning to doubt this _was _a dream, however.

Albus stood, still dizzy, as the other Albus smiled warmly. His eyes instinctively moved to look around- the Great Hall's wide House tables were not all green at silver this time. Instead, they were all colorful. And void of people. Well, mostly. On each house table, an Albus, each alike, but different sat on the house tables.

Ravenclaw Albus sat with his (for once) flat-lying hair, although spiking around the edges, and still looking rebellious. He sat straight, looking very smart indeed. Gryffindor Albus, who's hair was even messier than Albus', and who kept driving a hand through it in an attempt to make it even messier . He was lying with his feet curled around the benches so he dangled from them upside down, his messy hair almost brushing the floor. Across from him, Slytherin Albus was sitting _on _the his house table, his feet carefully swinging below him. He had the same rebellious glint in his eyes that Gryffindor Albus possessed, but his eyes also shone with something else...His hair was messier than Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Albus', but less that Gryffindor's.

"Er...what exactly is happening here?" Albus asked uncertainly.

"Oh, nothing!" Hufflepuff Albus grinned. "Hi Albus, I'm Albus. These blokes there are Albus, Albus and Albus."

"Erm, I figured."

Ravenclaw Albus rolled his eyes. "You're only confusing him." Ravenclaw Albus said sensibly. "I'll introduce us- I'm the Ravenclaw image of yourself. Basically every part of you that fits to be a Ravenclaw. The others are your Hufflpuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin selves respectively. So putting it simply, we're only just the parts of you that belong in the different noble houses of Hogwarts, you see." he explained.

"Oh, quit being all boring." Gryffindor Albus snorted. "He'd had figured that out by now- after all, I am a part of him. Let's put it in numbers- I'm Al 1, the wise one's Al 2, nice Hufflepuff bloke Al 3, and the slithery snake's Al 4."

"Says who, you arrogant prat!" Slytherin Albus called. "Of course you'd make yourself first...Stupid, Gryffindor self-love."

"Oh, that's rich, coming from an equally selfish self preserving snake."

"Well, at least I know when to jump headfirst into a situation and when not to, so why don't you go shove your ar-"

"STOP!" Hufflepuff and Ravnclaw Albus yelled, looking murderous.

"Just use your intials, why won't you?" Hufflepuff Albus offered, looking annoyed.

"Because, I don't know- they're _stupid?"_

"You're only saying that because mine are better than yours." Slytherin Albus retorted smugly.

Albus watched them throw insults back and forth uneasily,"... erm..."

Ravenclaw Albus sighed. "Fine, I suppose Albus' plan...er, the Hufflepuff Albus' plan is least explosive. So, Gryffindor, you're Galbus, Slytherin- go with Salbus, and you can be Halbus, and I'll be...Ralbus." He winced at the last word as if he didn't think much of his new alias.

"Um, okay, Salbus, Ralbus, Galbus, and Halbus...Why are you here?"

"Oh, come take a seat with me, no need to stand- we'll tell you!" Halbus said kindly. Reluctantly, as if he himself would end up a Hufflepuff if he sat there, Albus sat at the Hufflepuff table, closesly followed by Halbus.

"Well, you're in trouble, see?" Halbus explained wisely. The other Albus' watched him carefully, as if refereeing what he would say.

"Your year's going to be troublesome, students will be attacked several times,-"

"Halbus, that's enough." Ralbus said, looking slightly panicked. But Halbus just ignroed him.

"-and one of your best friends will entrust you with a secret you won't want to keep because it -"

"HALBUS!" Ralbus scolded. "Shut it. I'll go on from there." Galbus snickered while Salbus rolled his eyes.

Ralbus quickly hopped off the Ravenclaw table, pushed a slightly disappointed Halbus away, and sat instead as Albus' mouth dropped in horror.

"What did he just- what- but why-"

"Uh, forget anything the idiot said. The fact is, this year, you need to do something very, very important. Accept it- and don't be distraught. And...well, do whatever it takes."

"But...but why are you telling me this? Why in a dream, and why do I don't feel like it's just a dream?"

"Because it isn't?" Galbus suggested helpfully.

Ralbus and Salbus glared at him. Galbus just shrugged, and sat up straight. "Another bit of advice- don't trust adults."

"Don't _what?" _

"Don't trust adults." Galbus repeated impatiently. "One of them will betray you viciously, and two of them will do something that well, er I don't like to talk about it like that, er- you see-" None of the Albus' had time to shut him up, however, because Galbus shut up on his own, looking down at the floor with something like depression in his usually, reckless, fearless face. Albus noticed, feeling nervous, that the other Albus's...(or Albi? ...No. That sounded too much like some fungus name) had a shadow across their face.

"What?" Albus asked uncertainly, looking from face to face. "What's wrong- tell me!"

"We've told you all you need to know." Slytherin Albus said quietly, speaking from the first time in a while. "And when you learn the most of it...you'll wish you can un-learn it anyway."

"That...doesn't exactly make me feel better." Albus said uncomfortably. The Albus' shrugged.

"You'll forget most of this by the time you wake up, anyway. Expect the you-had-a-prophetic-dream thing- that'll be glued to your mind. You'll remember in time." Galbus said, shaving his hand in a nonchalant way, all his past negative emotions having seemed to dissolve.

"And about dreams..." Albus said, truly feeling dizzy now. What in Merlin? "How, and why...Enough said."

All the Albus did something together- they laughed. So hard that Salbus and Galbus almost fell of their house-tables, so much that Halbus had to bang his fists on the table to stop, so intensely that even Ralbus was clutching his ribs. Was Albus really that crazy?, he thought, seriously worried for his mental health if these four were supposedly a part of him.

"You-you-" Halbus said, taking a final breath to quench his laughter. "Oh, Merlin- that's one secret you can't know- but by all means, you'll be going now. Good bye, Al!"

Albus looked at the now smirking four images of himself. Salbus was wearing a green and silver tie, alternated by Galbus' scarlet and gold one. Ralbus and Halbus both wore red and bronze and yellow and black ties respectively. Something drew Albus to look at himself- he saw no colored tie indicating his house, nothing special, really- but what he saw was enough. Albus had the Hogwart's crest printed onto his robes.

-O-

"MUM! I CAN'T FIND MY WAND!"

"HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR TRUNK?"

"Oh...YEAH, FOUND IT. WAIT, MUM, WHERE'S MY-"

"YOUR BAG, JAMES! CHECK YOUR BAG FOR MERLIN'S SAKE, WE'RE LEAVING IN MINUTES!"

Albus ran down the stairs with his trunk in hand, tripped down the last step, and fell to the floor with a thud where his father almost ran over him.

"Al, what're you doing there?" Harry said absentmindedly. He helped his son off the floor and then ran to help his wife load James' trunk into their car, levitating Albus' as he did so.

"MUM-"

"YOUR ROBES ARE PACKED, AND YOUR BROOM IS IN THE TRUNK."

"Oh...Oh THANKS." Finally James ran down the stairs, his hair as messy as ever and, his trunk having already been levitated down, but a certain backpack filled with what Albus suspected were Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products went with him, and him alone. He ran over so fast that he almost knocked Albus to the floor again.

"Watch where you're going, squirt." James said as he made it out the door.

"Watch where _I'm _going?" Albus muttered, running outside as well.

Five minutes later, they were all seated in their dad's flying Ford Angelia II. "This baby was Grandpa's idea," he remembered his father saying one day, looking smug. Apparently, Grandpa Weasley had come up with the idea of flying cars quite a few years ago, and the idea had become more than a little popular. Albus loved riding that car. But his mood was dampened that day because James kept running in and out as soon as they started moving, demanding that he forgot something and ought to bring it. Lily was madder than she was the entire year, and she made no effort to hide it.

"Mum, do something!" James groaned, having finally settled down after going back for another thing. He still fidgeted as he slammed the car's door, trying to sit down more comfortably. "Lily looks like she's ready to blow up an entire Quidditch Pitch." he said dryly.

"Stop annoying her, James!" Ginny snapped.

"But-"

"James, I'll remind you that your broom is in the trunk, and I can cast a fiendfyre as good as anyone else. We're half an hour away from the station, so keep it shut."

James pouted. "Fine." he grumbled. "It's not my fault Al and I were born before her."

That was the wrong thing to say- Lily turned to James with a fiery look in her eyes, and then- she broke down crying. Silent sobs wrecked her body as she folded her arms and hid her face in them.

"T-two years." Lily stuttered, making Albus feel extremely awkward. Before James or he could offer any comfort though, their mother reached out her arms from the back seat and took Lily into them, pulling her along and comforting her.

"See what you've done, now, James?" Harry demanded in an annoyed tone. "Do you always have to do that to your siblings?"

James looked out the window, muttering. "It's just...Well, the longer she doesn't go to Hogwarts, to longer she doesn't get to see Al in Slytherin uniform."

"Really, James?" Harry asked, sighing as he took a left turn. Albus fidgeted uncomfortably, his fists clenching.

"I ask you to stop getting on Lily's nerves, and you decided to poke at Albus' instead. Smooth, buddy. Real smooth."

"What am I supposed to do, then?!" James demanded, waving his arms in annoyance.

"I don't know- stop being a git?" Albus offered, too low for anyone to make it out.

-O-

"We could always sit with Victoire and Molly, you know?" Rose said nonchalantly as she and Albus searched for an empty compartment.

"Yes, but I don't feel like it." Albus said. "Dad said he and Uncle Ron met on the Hogwarts Express...and I want to start up building my own rep."

Rose shrugged. "I won't argue with that then...ah, here's an empty place." Albus glanced inside the compartment- indeed, only two people were inside. A girl, and a slightly familiar boy.

Rose knocked before he could gather anymore details, and it slid open. The girl was facing them- she was fairly short, but not too much. She was pale, and had mahogany colored hair which was very remarkable, compared to her jet black highlights and ran all the way down her back-length hair. Her eyes were a chocolate-brown color, and she was already dressed in Hogwarts robes, with a cat sitting on her shoulder.

"Yes?" she said. Her voice was soft and emotion filled, and Albus could tell that at moment, she was nothing short of a bit irritated. She must have been expecting the trolley lady.

"May we come to sit in?" Rose asked polietly. The girl shrugged, and moved out of the way to let them in. The other boy in the compartment with her was the one they'd seen on the station- he had light blonde hair, a fairly pale skin tone and a pointed face. Albus recognized him as Scorpius Malfoy. Albus and Rose sat across from him, but before Albus could move to close the comparment door, another person walked in. Rick Johanson poked his head through the half-open door, smiling sheepishly.

"Hey - everywhere else is full. Mind if I come in?"

Albus and Rose nodded, and the girl with brown and black hair shrugged again, so Rick went to sit down beside Rose and the girl, and Albus finally shut the door. The five sat in the compartment, silent for a few moments.

"I'm Rose Weasley- nice to meet you." Rose said, smiling. She looked at Scorpius. "I take it you're Scorpius Malfoy?"

Scorpius shrugged. "As far as they told me." he said sarcastically.

"I'm Albus Potter- Rose here's my cousin." Albus chimed in. Albus and Rose exchanged a look- Uncle Ron didn't seem to like Mr. Malfoy, but his father was acting perfectly civil. They may have known each other at some point in school, he thought, and from the look on her face, he could tell Rose was coming to the same conclusion. Even if rivals lived, what were they to do with it? Rose shrugged, and turned back, as did Albus.

"Rick Johanson." Rick told them. They all turned to girl, who was watching them talk silently, but not speaking at all.

"I'm Ciadra Zianne." she said when she noticed them staring at her. She prounced her name See-add-ra.

"Well, it's nice meeting you all." Rose said conversationally, making a point to throw Scorpius a glance as she did. She looked at Rick. "You're the one who was with Nico, right?"

Rick nodded. "And your father was a friend of Nico's...he told me. Said your and Albus' parents were in Gryffindor together."

"Well, yes." Albus said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but the compartment door slid open again, much to Ciadra's chagrin. Though when she saw who it was, her face broke into a grin- it was the trolley lady. Rose smirked, and Albus dug his pockets from what money his parents gave him for candy.

They ended up buying almost half the trolley (most of if courtesy of Rose) as they exchanged Chocolate Frog cards in the long run. Albus saw Rose hand Rick a chocolate frog, and he offered Scorpius one. The latter looked at it for quite a while before accepting it. Ciadra was eating an ice mouse very slowly.

Rick's chocolate frog jumped out the window before he could take a bite. Ciadra laughed at that in her strangely melodramatic voice, as Rick glared half-heartedly. He pulled out his card.

"Hey!" he said. "I got your dad, Albus." he said, waving the card around with wide eyes. Albus rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"You can keep it." he said, turning to Rose as Rick's eyes scanned the card with interest. "What'd you get?" he asked his cousin, seeing the look of amazement on her face. He hoped she hadn't gotten Lujer- that was one rare card he was hoping to beat her to.

"I got Agrippa." she said with a yelp, bumping her fist into the air. Rick turned to look at her like she was crazy as Albus found himself gaping in awe at his cousin's luck- she'd just found a rare card, too, even if it wasn't Lujer.

Scorpius looked up from his card. "This Nico bloke you were talking about- did you know he has a chocolate frog card?"

"No way!" Rick said, looking dumbfounded.

"I didn't know that." Albus admitted as Rose nodded. "I expected it, but I don't have any of his cards."

"I do." Ciadra said. "I have about four or five of his- read the card."

Scorpius took that as a sign to read it aloud, and shrugged.

_Nico di Angelo- Youngest and only necromancer of the twentieth century to the twenty first. Most famous for his rebellion against Lord Voldemort (Also known as Tom Riddle) and the youngest and only person to escape Azkaban after Sirius Black (having been accused wrongly)._

"What's Azkaban?" Rick said, his eyebrows shooting upward.

"It's a wizarding prison." Rose explained. "Dad told me- see, Nico joined Hogwarts his fifth year, having been learning in another school in the states. The Ministry didn't trust the American wizards, so they accused him of plotting against the Ministry and put him in Azkaban without a fair trial." she explained.

"That was...uncalled for." Scorpius said, frowning. Rose nodded solemnly, and Albus found himself being angry in Nico's behalf, too.

"All right. Who's Sirius Black?" Rick continued curiously. Rose started launching into a longer than necessary explanation about Sirius, how the Ministry was absolutely stupid to lock a man without a trail, and then drifted out of subject to the rights of magical creatures and the decrees that had to be put up to avoid unfair accusations and to work for the benefit of the wizarding world as whole, not put up a misleading image and lull their subjects into a fake sense of security in order to maintain a good reputation. By the time she was almost done, Rick looked like his head was spinning, and Scorpius, out of probable sympathy for him, spoke up.

"Are you a Muggle-Born, by the way?" Scorpius asked Rick- not aggressively or rudely, just hurriedly. Rose glared at him for interrupting her rant.

"No, not really." Rick said, looking slightly uncomfortable again. "I'm actually a Pure-blood. That's what Nico said, anyway. But I've been Muggle-raised."

"How can a pure-blood be Muggle raised?" Albus asked in disbelief as Scorpius raised both his eyebrows, though he looked like he had some idea. "Won't you have to go to your wizarding relatives?"

Rick shrugged. "My uncle- my dad's brother, he's what you'd call a Squib. He married this lady who's a muggle- that'd be my Aunt Donna. She knows about magic, of course. So, my parents were Aurors, and they were killed years after the war by some ex-Death Eaters. That's all I know, really. I didn't know anything about magic until my eleventh birthday, when Neville came and told me. He said I could go to Hogwarts, and that'd he'd be taking me, but turns out he was busy and Nico came with me for Diagon Alley shopping instead."

"Oh," said Albus. "I'm sorry..." The others nodded, but Rick simply shrugged it off.

"It doesn't matter." he muttered. Albus could tell that was an outright lie from the sagging of his shoulders.

That explained everything- mainly why Nico was with him. His relatives may have been a little sore about magic, and so that must have been why they had someone else explain everything to him.

"Couldn't you tell something was off though, when you started doing accidental magic?" Ciadra queried, smoothing her cat's fur.

"Well..yes." Rick admitted. "I mean, there's this time I blew up the school's recorder..." Rick shuddered violently at that memory. "...But I thought that was a coincidence."

"What's a recorder?" Scorpius asked. Rose was at once explaining what a muggle recorder was to Scorpius (who looked horrified as he realized the mistake he had just made) as Albus asked, his curiosity piqued-

"Why did you blow it up?"

Rick blushed furiously. "Well, it was supposed to help the kids at the choir, but...Let's just say it recorded something it wasn't supposed to...something I didn't want anyone to hear."

"How on earth did it manage to do so?" Ciadra asked, tilting her head sideways. "Recorders don't simply go off saving private conversations, do they?" Rose looked at her like she was stupid, for some reason, before shaking her head and turning away with a sigh, and went back to summing up the functions of a recorder to Scorpius, who looked like he regretted asking in the first place, and was simply nodding along as if trying to ease her to a quicker conclusion. Albus couldn't really blame him.

Rick shrugged. "Accidents happen."

"That's true enough." Rose smirked, having finished explaining to Scorpius (he gave a sigh of relief behind her back. Rose could really rant). "I remember my first show of accidental magic- or the one I can recall anyway. I think I was seven. Hugo wouldn't give me back my toy broom, so I levitated him, and he was so terrified he dropped it."  
"I was there for that!" Albus grinned. "And in all honestly, you were more terrified than Hugo was."

"Not as much as you were after setting your house of fire!" Rose retorted.

Scorpius out-right laughed, which sounded weird. Seriously, what did Albus' uncle have against his family? He looked pretty friendly. "You set your _house _on fire? Why on earth?"

Albus grinned sheepishly. "I didn't mean to...James was going on about how I was as good as a Squib, and I got so angry at it just sort of happened."

Silence.

"Is it always normal to set your family house on fire for wizards?" Rick questioned. No one answered this- they looked like they were suppressing laughter. Rick, however, nodded, as though he understood them perfectly well anyway.

"Ah," he said with a fake look of comprehension. "I see."

No one could hold back their mirth anymore, and they all laughed loudly, expect for Ciadra who was simply shaking but not making any real sounds. Albus was actually quite surprised to see how well they were getting along- he'd only met Ciadra just yet, and Scorpius, for a person coming from a rivaling family, didn't see too bad.

"You know," Rose said. "It's so strange how smoothly we're pulling it off. I mean, I don't mean to make a big show of it or anything, but I heard our parents were rivals." She put in with a look at Scorpius. He shrugged.

"My grandad hates your lot." he admitted, making Albus and Rose share yet another look. Huh? "Er, no offence. But my mum and dad say it's...fine to befriend you. Dad says he's not too proud of a few things he did and that he's all matured, he thinks I can talk to who I want to. Mum was a Ravenclaw in her time, see- they're kind of stuck in the middle of all rivalries, so no one hates them."

Albus took this in, and decided Scorpius' dad was much more mature than Uncle Ron was being, even if it did look like a civil rivalry. He turned to see how Rose was taking it, and was surprised to see a wicked fire burning in his eyes- she was not going to go easy on Scorpius academically, and he knew it. She was going to do her best to beat him at everything anyway.

"Well, Gryffindor and Slytherin were the main rivals." Ciadra said, biting into a chocolate frog. " Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were just laid back- I'm hoping I'd be stuck in the fires, I'm one for suspense. In fact, I'm basking for either Gryffindor or Slytherin, but I'm all for Gryffindor once I think it through- Slytherin's a bunch of spare tools."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Scorpius demanded, looking slightly irritated. "There's nothing wrong with us Slytherins- in fact, I want to be a Slytherin- anything against that?"

"My dad said there's nothing wrong with Slytherin." Albus added, not seeing where this was going.

"Yes, but as I said, they're a bunch of spare tools- Mum says that half of the time, all Gryffindors almost get sorted into Slytherin, or vice versa, so if you get into Slytherin, it just means you're not good enough for Gryffindor. Mum says they're just a house for the weak and broken most of the time, those who aren't brave enough to try rather than brain storm things away."

"No they're not!" Rick and Scorpius snapped in unison. Rick looked at Scorpius for aid. "They aren't, are they?" Scorpius shook his head furiously.

"That's not good logical." Rose amended, looking like she wanted to roll her eyes. "Slytherin is the house of the cunning and ambitious- not the broken and superfluous. Not the weak and cowardly. Just because you're not a Gryffindor, that doesn't make you a coward."

"But it does- what kind of people but the broken join the bad side? Because the good side doesn't accept them for who they are. Most Slytherins were Death Eaters, weren't they?" Ciadra said, smiling, as if oblivious to every glare she was getting.

"Is it- is it really that bad?" Rick said, looking doubtful now.

"No!" Scorpius fended angrily, his face red. "No, don't listen to her! She's filling your head with things- it's not true!" Rick blinked for a moment, then looked absolutely livid at someone trying to 'fill his head with things' and glared along with Scorpius.

"Don't look at me like that." Ciadra said, looking irritated. "Slytherins _are_ what I said they were. Just like Ravenclaws are know-it-alls, yet can't know the simplest things, and just like Hufflepuffs are lackeys who have nothing to do besides trying to help others and don't mind their own business because they think it's loyal."

"You're not saying Gryffindors are perfect, now are you?" Albus said reproachfully- he was just beginning to like Ciadra when she started spewing all that nonsense- despite not wanting to be in Slytherin, prejudices still unnerved and disgusted him.

"No, they aren't." she said cheerfully. "Gryffindors are arrogant, self-righteous, and think they're above everyone else because they have this stupidity and recklessness they like to call 'courage'." she ended.

The entire room stared at her in shock- all their sweets lay forgotten beside them, and Rick even dropped his Bertie Bott Bean to gape at Ciadra. Albus chocolate card tumbled out of his hand. Rose was still holding her half-eaten licorice wand, but she looked like she didn't know what to think.

"So...so..." she trailed of. "I- What exactly are you trying to state?"

Ciadra looked at her coolly before shrugging her shoulders. "I'm pointing out that no matter what house you're sorted into, you'll always have a fault. Just speaking in general- don't mind me if you don't like it." And no one did.

The train ride was silent after that- Rick and Scorpius absolutely refused to even look at Ciadra. Scropius in defense of his family's house, and Rick for some reason unknown to him- maybe one of his parents was a and were talking among each other, Scorpius explaining to Rick the best Slytherins including Severus Snape, Horace Slughorn, and Regulus Black while he threw a dirty look at Ciadra every now and then. She didn't seem to care, and kept petting her black cat nonchalantly.

Rose looked torn between them, then decidedly went back to eating quietly. Albus didn't know whose side to take, although he was pretty sure it wouldn't be Ciadra's. Almost unintentionally, he felt himself drift to sleep...

_He was standing in a dark, cold corridor. ...No one was there but him. Yet he needed to do something- or else they were all in big trouble. He needed to do this- he had to._

_He ran down the narrow, dark, hallway, ignoring the frostbite, the freezing cold as he went through a narrow opening, like an air vent, but not quite... _

_He crawled along it, desperate to make it to his unknown destination when he reached a block- a block that had green eyes, a mischievous smile, and ruffled black hair. A block that was none other than himself. He was, yet again, wearing black robes with the Hogwarts crest on them._

_"Hello there." he smirked. "I'm yet to meet you- Galbus, Salbus, Ralbus, and Halbus have all the fun."_

_"Who are you then?" Albus breathed impatiently- he was only being delayed._

_"I'm you." the other Albus said simply. "Just plain old you. And remember, when you get here, you'll have to go through me."_

_"Well, then." Albus said, panicking. "Get out of the way- I'm sort of in a hurry..." He didn't see how the other Albus could move away, but he didn't care either. The Albus shook his head cheerfully._

_"Nope. Move me yourself."_

_"W-what?" Albus asked desperately. But he needed to get where he was going! He had to!_

_The Albus gave him a lopsided grin and propped his hands on his face, looking nonchalant. "Move me yourself. No one but you, can get through this. So if you want to get through, then you must remove me personally. Which is to say, you must remove yourself. So go ahead and remove yourself."_

_"What-what if I can't?" Albus said, his eyes wide._

_The other him shrugged. "If you can't get me out of your way, I'll get you out of mine. This vent isn't wide enough for both of us to go through- one must go backwards to let the other proceed, or neither will ever reach their destination. Get it?"_

_Albus shook his head furiously. "So...I should get rid of myself before I get rid of myself, meaning that I'll get rid of myself either way?"_

_"No, no." Dream Albus said, sighing. "Phrase it like this- You should get rid of yourself , or else yourself will get rid of you. Better?"_

_Albus responded in the negative., and Dream Albus sighed._

_"Sorry, mate." he said sincerely. "Dreams just don't make sense- get used to it."_

With that, everything faded from his vision. The next thing Albus remembered was Rose waking him up, already dressed in robes.


	3. Sorting Special

All in all, Albus was pretty glad when Rose woke him up- he gave a jump, and his cousin drew back instinctively.

"Hey, Sleepy Head...We're at Hogsmeade. Slept well?" she whispered sarcastically. Albus shook his head honestly and looked around the compartment- Scropius and Rick were standing up, as if ready to leave the compartment. Ciadra wasn't dressed in robes yet, but Rose was. Scorpius and Rick didn't to like her, but they did respect a girl's need for privacy- Albus looked at Rose. Before boarding the train, she was wearing a simple navy blouse with a knee-long skirt, so it was safe to assume she had simply thrown her robes over her head.

She raised her eyebrow at Albus and he begrudgingly abandoned the comfortable seat to leave with the two other boys.

"She, is seriously messed up. That Cia-whatever girl." Scorpius decided once the compartment door was closed.

"Why?" Albus asked, his numb brain yet to comprehended much."I mean, sure, what she said was a bit prejudiced-"

"A _bit?" _Scorpius asked him in disbelief, waving his arms around and looking indignant. "You saw how she was indirectly mocking my family? Our practical heritage? My _house?"_

"Well thought I agree about her being 'messed up' as you put it," Rick said, looking really grumpier than Albus had imagined him before falling asleep. "It's not guaranteed you'll make Slytherin. Not that I agree with her, of course." he added quickly.

Scorpius snorted. "_Every _Malfoy ends up in Slytherin. Just like all Potters and Weasleys end up in Gryffindor-" he gestured to Albus, and he felt a bit more confident about his sorting all of a sudden. "Honestly, it's like a birth right."

Albus opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, Rose poked her head through the compartment door and smiled at them.

"All done," she assured, getting out. Ciadra, now in her robes, hoisted her black cat off the seat and followed up nonchalantly, oblivious to the glares on her. Rose looked uncomfortable as the boys walked into the compartment. She gave Albus a nervous look before closing the door shut and leaving the boys to undress.

"What's your cousin so nervous about?" Scorpius asked suddenly, as if he got tired of bad-mouthing Ciadra.

"I dunno," Albus admitted, shrugging as he struggled to pull the robes over his head. "She just doesn't like taking sides, I guess-"

"But See-Mad-Ra is obviously the one in the wrong!" Scorpius protested, and Rick simply nodded silently. He looked a lot more down than before.

"I know," Albus said as he watched Scorpius finally scoop up his robes, pulling them over his head as well. The dark robes fell perfectly over his thin complexion, but Rick seemed to be struggling with them.

"You're wearing them backwards!" Scorpius hissed at him still obviously in a bad mood- he reached out with his hands to help him, but Rick flinched away suddenly, stumbling over his feet and falling down. Scorpius grimaced.

"Sorry, mate," Rick managed sheepishly, sitting up. "You startled me there." He corrected his robes as if nothing had happened. Scorpius and Albus exchanged looks, then shrugged simultaneously- Albus didn't want to keep Rose waiting outside for long, and Scorpius wanted to resume making jabs at Ciadra, so they put it aside for the moment. It wasn't their business if Rick was a little clumsy. But Albus did notice Scorpius smiling a little, though he didn't know why.

Albus gave the door a faint knock to let the girls know they were allowed in. No sooner had his hand made contact with the polished wood, than Rose opened the door. Her face was red, and she let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the three dresses boys and threw herself on to the closest seat. Albus, confused, followed suit. Ciadra entered seconds later, her cat slung over her shoulders, and a genuine smile on her face. Scorpius scowled at her, clearly not wanting her to be in the compartment anymore. Rick just stared at the floor wordlessly. Albus looked at Rose in question, but his cousin just shook her head and mouthed, 'I'll tell you later'.

"So.." she said uncertainly. "Any of you have siblings who'll be attending Hogwarts?" added Rose. "My brother Hugo's coming two years later."

"I have a sister..." Rick admitted. "Hestia. She's five, so she won't be here for a while." He continued staring at the floor with an almost sad expression- Albus was about to ask him something when Rose nudged him. He rolled his eyes- why did he always have to interrupted?

"My brother, James- he's a third year. If you randomly find Frizzling Fire Fissures in your trunks one day, that'll probably be him and my cousin Fred." Rose gave a slight smile while Scorpius and Rick gave him looks that plainly said, "Are you serious?" Ciadra looked out the window and didn't respond.

"And my sister Lily's joining Hogwarts when Hugo is." They all turned Scorpius, who suddenly looked loads less confident.

"Uh..."

"Do you have a sibling, or not?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrow and looking significantly superior.

"Well..." he said, fidgeting about. "Kinda.."

"How can you have a 'kinda' sibling?" Albus wondered aloud. Scorpius gave him a half-hearted glare.

"She isn't born yet," he admitted.

Rose immediately let out a squeal. Ciadra looked back from her window to give Scorpius an amused look, which he retorted with a fully-intended glare this time. Ciadra seemed unperturbed and turned away again without a word.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Rose said. "Is it a girl or a boy?"

"We don't know." Scorpius admitted. "But it's a boy, then Arcux, Lyra if it's a girl."

"What's will all the star names?" Rose wondered. Scorpius shrugged, but gave a smirk.

"I'm an only child." Ciadra said, thought no one asked. Her eyes were firmly planted on the scenery outside the window, and she seemed entirely immersed in the beauty of the outside world, ignoring Scorpius' eye roll and his muttering. Rose looked torn between saying something and being silent, but she was saved the effort of saying anything when the compartment's door slid open once against- this time though, a group of six people entered, grinning widely- only two of them were first years like Albus and Rose, and the rest were older. Albus even thought one of them looked like a seventh year, and his suspicions were confirmed once he saw a gleaming Head Boy badge on the smug boy's chest. The Head Boy, apparently, had a mane of messy black hair. His eyes were a bright, defying silver that radiated calculation and awareness. Beside him, a pretty girl who looked a bit younger- a sixth or fifth year perhaps- was smiling down at them. She had wavy brown hair and dark sea-green eyes with a splash of freckles across her face. She was very pretty, and seemed to know it too, because she gave them all a wink.

A girl who looked like a carbon copy of her, expect with a nervous expression and sandy blond hair gave them a weak smile, too. She was clearly a first year, like another boy beside her. The other first year had dark hair and brown eyes, and he gave them all a confident nod. A boy with a mane of reddish-blond hair stood beside a third year like himself- a girl with her ashy blond hair drawn back into a neat pony tail.

"Hello, y'all!" the Head Boy said, grinning. He had a slightly strange accent. "I'm Dalton Hilenston, Head Boy. Pleased to meet you. This stunningly beautiful young lady here is Leila-"

"I can introduce my self, you know," the pretty girl with brown hair sniffed with a mock pout. "No need to be so eloquent, Dalt. I'm Leila Shariq." She said brightly, shaking all of their hands, even Scorpius'. Even Ciadra had turned from her window now to shake Leila's hand. When it was Albus' turn, she gave him a particularly warm smile before shaking his hand with her own soft one and moving on to Rose. Dalton, probably feeling left out, shook their hands, too, but his grip was much tighter, and he did the deed with an air of authority.

"This is my sister Yasmine, by the way-" Leila said, gesturing to the shy-looking first year girl who waved at them.

"And that's her friend- what's your name again?" Dalton asked suddenly, looking at the first-year boy.

"I'm Alex Taylor." he said, nodding at them again, though not in an unfriendly manner.

"I'm Dianna Peers." The girl with ashy blonde her introduced, shaking each of their hands as well- Albus thought he caught Rick blushing furiously when she touched his hand, and felt his lps tugging almost involuntarily.

"And I'm Albastor Weasley!" the boy added cheekily grinning. Rick and Scorpius immediately turned to Rose and Albus, who each shook their heads- that boy was _not _a Weasley. Albus was just beginning to wonder what the boy was on about before Dianna slapped him over his head.

"Ow!" Alabaster not-really-Weasley said indignantly.

"Sorry about that prat," apologized Dianna. "He's not fooling anyone with that trick, I tell you- he just wants to see how you react. His name's Alabastor Morgainne."

"Be a party pooper, why don't you?" Alabastor muttered while Dalton simply laughed.

"We make it our job to know everyone in school," Dalton said. "And I'm really good at guessing where everyone may most likely end up sorted, so it's fun. Anyway, you going to introduce yourselves, firsties?" Alex Taylor looked mildly offended.

"I'm Rick- Rick Johanson." Rick said, as he was the first one they looked at.

"Gryffindor." Dalton said immediately, not breaking eye contact with Rick.

"W-what, excuse me?"

"Gryffindor," the Head Boy repeated slowly. "That's where I think you'll be." he shrugged at Rick, who looked slightly dazed, before moving on to Scorpius.

"Scorpius Malfoy." Scorpius said, with an unnatural air of arrogance he didn't have when he had introduced himself to Albus and Rose.

"Ah," Dalton smiled, much to Scorpius' shock."I don't even have to think about that one- Malfoys are Slytherins by birth." Scorpius shot Rick an 'I told you so,' look, who just shrugged.

"Make us proud, will you?" Dalton asked, and for the first time, Albus noticed the seventh-year's green and silver Slytherin tie- from the look on Rose's face, she was noticing it now only, too. He felt his eyes widen, but tried to hide as much shock as possible- he was apparently doing a bad job of it because Dianna smirked at him. Dalton didn't...look like a Slytherin. Or act like one. Albus really didn't know what he expected though- Scorpius was a little snappish when insulted, but he wasn't bad, too, and his entire family came from Slytherin. Maybe he should stopping seeing things the way Uncle Ron and James saw them, and start his own view of things he knew nothing about. He looked up at the new comers' uniform- Alex and Yasmine, of course, were first years, and thus not sorted. Dianna and Alabastor were wearing identical blue Ravenclaw ties. Leila was wearing a red Gryffindor tie, which struck Albus as slightly wrong- he was pretty sure Leila was Dalton's girlfriend, or a really close friend at least. Were the house rivalries not as bad as most people claimed they were? Were his Uncles, Aunts, and cousins exaggerating?

"Ciadra Zianne," Ciadra said, smiling. Dalton tapped him chin.

"Hmm..." It looked like a hard decision, as he looked Ciadra in the eye for a long time before nodding.

"Hufflepuff. " he decided. Scorpius' jaw dropped, and he started opening his mouth and closing it like a fish.

"Isn't Hufflepuff, like, the house for nice and loyal people?" Rick asked uncertainly.

"Spot on, Richie!" Dalton encouraged.

"Richie? My name's not Richard!" But Dalton ignored him and moved on to Albus. His eyes lingered on him for a second.

"You look familiar," he admitted, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah," he said, not overly surprised by this fact. "I'm Albus Potter." The reactions weren't quite what he expected. Dianna out-right laughed whereas Alabastor buried his head in his hands in shame.

"Oh, Merlin- no wonder you didn't fall for the Weasley trick!" she said in between gales of laughter, which only increased when Rose reluctantly admitted to being a Weasley herself. Alabastor's face was a deep shade of red when he looked up, and he groaned. Scorpius snickered. Rick and Ciadra looked very amused, as Leila gave a sharp gasp with her sister and Alex following suit. Only Dalton kept a straight, yet thoughtful face.

"I already knew that," he said nonchalantly, and Albus could tell Dalton was being a hundred percent truthful. He felt a strange surge of gratitude toward the Slytherin Head Boy for not judging him on the basis of his name.

"I mean, I think I saw you somewhere...No, you sure? Weren't you out at, say, Florian Fortescue's?" Dalton asked as Albus shook his head honestly. He shrugged, but continued staring Albus right in the eye, and Albus suddenly wondered just how he was guessing so well- his eyes seemed to bore into Albus' soul and see right through it, but he didn't feel anything strange, just a sense of unease.

"Slytherin." he said finally, as Albus froze stiff. "You walk a very thin line between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Can't tell which, but I guess we'll have to wait and see." he turned to Rose with a smile and stared at her for barely two seconds.

"Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw." he said. Dianna and Alabastor gave low, dramatic 'whoops' in the background.

His job done, Dalton smirked in satisfaction and stepped back to his group.

"Hey, if you guys need anything, you'll tell me, right?" he checked, tapping his shiny badge smugly. Leila rolled her eyes, but didn't swat Dalton's hand away as it roped around her waist.

"Head Boy and all."

"Sure," Scorpius said. Rose and Albus nodded their confirmation while Rick silently agreed.

"Moving on!" he said cheerfully. "Oh, Albus, please tell your brother not to set up anymore Fireless Firecrackers for the Opening Feast...Unless he's sure he won't get caught." Dalton added slyly. Leila rolled her eyes at him again as she and their group of friends walked away cheerfully, making sure to close the door behind them.

"That was...eventful." Rose concluded. She looked quite pleased with herself, but Albus found his emotions in a mix- on one hand, Dalton had practically told him he would probably end up in Slytherin, and on the other hand, if all Slytherins were like Dalton, then maybe it wasn't a bad house after all...He wanted nothing more than to loose himself to thoughts, but he wasn't given that opportunity as the train pulled to an abrupt stop.

"Well..." Scorpius drawled. "Guess the six of them won't be visiting everyone."

"Our compartment is the last, Scorpius." Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"I knew that," Scorpius said quickly, but Albus didn't believe him one bit as they stumbled out of the compartment and out to the nearest exit.

Cold, chilly air met them, ruffling their hair in the wind. Ciadra's cat was latching onto her shoulder tighter than ever- but he soon lost her in the crowd of people filing out of the Express and into the September air. Rose held on tight to Albus' hand, as if afraid to loose him in the hustle. He gripped her hand tighter, admittedly, he was growing nervous too. The churning feeling in his stomach, the one he had had just before his father had bid him good bye on the platform had returned full-force. In all the noise and shoving around, Albus honestly didn't know where to go until-

"First years! First years, over here, please! First years- let the light guide you. Merlin, why are there so many students?"  
Albus didn't know whom the voice belonged to, but it definitely didn't belong to Hagrid. He let himself frown as he pulled Rose through the crowd, which was starting to thin.

A woman, wearing dark lime robes which swished and billowed about in the wind like her dark hair stared them down with her frosty blue eyes that reminded Albus all too much of the chilly sensation of the wind blowing around them.

"Oh, thank Merlin." he heard the lady breathe. "Four to a boat!" she gestured toward the still, wooden boats that looked decades old. The first years were not reassured by this to say in the least. When they wouldn't move, she began gesturing frantically and actually tapping students on the shoulder and ushering them to boats, all the while moving her lantern around in case there were any other first years. One of those unlucky first years happened to be Rick, who was pushed into the first boat. For some reason, and without reluctance, Yasmine Shariq, whom Albus only recognized because of her mop of blond hair, sat next to him. Without hesitation, someone who was definitely Alex Taylor jumped after her, followed by a random first-year.

Ciadra, much to Scorpius' glee (he was miraculously beside them) climbed into a boat with three other separate random first years. That aside, Albus had made sure he and Rose got a boat to themselves. Scorpius had climbed in after them quickly- he was receiving a strange amount of frowns and glares from people he did not even know, which made Albus frown as well. He may not have liked the fame his family's name brought him very much, but it was definitely better than being hated. He made a point to give the matter more thought as a boy with blond hair climbed with them.

Albus had no time to get a better look at him, however, as the boats started moving at once, almost making them fall off. Albus could haves sworn he heard Rose mutter something that sounded close to, 'Damn inertia...'

But once it started, Albus found himself in a new world- it was as if it were magical. Reminding him self it _was _magical and stifling a laugh, Albus wondered what brought this new feeling upon him.

The wind was blowing, almost humming a beautiful, soft melody. It was nothing like that frosty wind they had almost grown accustomed to- instead, it was a gentle, soft, cool breeze which seemed to sweep his hair backwards, refreshing him. Above them, the stars stretched numerously like a pattern, the constellations seeming to stand out even more than that usual- like a map of the universe, a twinkling one. The Black Lake, which definitely did seem black, was beautiful nonetheless as it reflected the never-ending ever-bright light of the stars hanging in the sky above it like lanterns. But that wasn't the most beautiful thing of it all- not the soft motion the boat was cutting into the now sparkling waters of the lake, and not the feeling of the rhythmic blows of cool September air, and not the breath-taking sea of light that was the stars. The most amazing moment, which was proved by a collective intake of breath by everyone- was the sight of Hogwarts itself. The castle spread in front of them more like a protective barrier- it stood, ancient, large, and elegant. Its several window seemed to glint in the night sky, its ginormous oak doors towering above them. There it was- the castle of seven floors, hundreds of secret passages, and the castle where they would start their own adventures.

Albus barely noticed when they stopped. In fact, he was almost disappointed, but not for long. The mysterious woman was helping students out of the boat- the ones who needed it anyway. Most of them were far too dazed, and with good reason, too.

Hogwarts was a lot more beautiful up close- it seemed to stretch endlessly in front of them- huge, great, and old. Albus found himself wondering how a castle this old could stay standing for so long. To her credit, the woman gave them time to stare at the castle. But once she seemed to think the goggling students had had their share of gaping, she ushered them closer, and turned to the oak doors almost instinctively. She put both of her pale hands on them, and pushed ever so slightly. The great doors opened, and they go their first peak ever into Hogwarts.

-O-

"The ceiling!" Rose was squealing, looking up at the ceiling, which was viewing the starry sky outside. "It's enchanted to view the sky outside- I read about it in _Hogwarts: A History, the Revised Version._" She was speaking very quickly.

Rose had every right to marvel at the beauty of the enchanted ceiling, but Albus doubted he wanted her to recite the entire book to him.

Albus thought he saw the older people at the tables looking at the first years with amused expression. He didn't understand why, but it slightly annoyed him.

The woman who had led them there was talking with Neville- no, Professor Longbottom now, in urgently whispered tones. He gave her a nod, and she moved over to the staff table. Professor Longbottom quieted the nervous first-years down with a simple raised hand- and then, Nico, who looked much the same but with black robes on, placed what was unmistakably the Sorting Hat on a little wooden stool right in the middle of the hall- Albus wondered when he got there. He hadn't noticed him. But then again, he _was_ too busy staring around.

Four great House tables stretched far and wide, just like Albus had seen in his dreams. On the left corner of the Hall, under a buzz of green an silver, the Slytherin Table was whispering excitedly. Right beside it were the strangely clashing colors of the Hufflepuff House. The house of black and yellow were much more quiet, though they seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Beside them was the ocean of blue dubbed as the Ravenclaw Table- the members were only exchanging glances now and then, smirking, or randomly bursting into laughter. And last of all the House tables was the Gryffindor one- the pride were the loudest of all. They didn't bother to keep down the loud sounds of their bets, or their loud laughs and conversations. They seemed to know they were making noise, but they didn't really seem to care. Last of all was the staff table which consisted of all the members of staff, about fifteen to twenty of them. Not very much. Albus turned his attention to the stool in the middle of the Great Hall-

Neville stood there, beside the sorting hat. He cleared his throat. "Welcome, to Hogwarts. The Sorting ceremony will take place shortly- wheher you be sorted into any of the four houses- Gryffindor, the house of the noble and the brave, Ravenclaw, the house of the witty and intellectual, Hufflepuff, the house of the loyal and hard-working, or Slytherin, the house of the ambitious and sly, you are expected to bring pride upon your house. Good deeds like answering a question right in class will earn you house points, and bad ones like sneaking out late or breaking school rules will lose you house points. By the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the house cup, a great honor. Now- prepare to be sorted!"

The hat was tattered and old- much like you'd expect a pointed wizard's hat to be after more than a millennium. As soon as Nico was seated at the staff table, the battered old hat opened its torn brim wide- and to the shock of most people, began singing loudly-

_Now listen students new and old, _

_to my careful words,_

_For I can see that you are scared,_

_of testing any wards._

_But worry not for my job is,_

_To put you where you fit,_

_Now you'll think not but you'll think so,_

_In maybe just a bit._

_Come let us hear a story of four founders old and ancient,_

_Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,_

_and Slytherin and Gryffindor._

_You see, the four bright wizards they,_

_Decided that they may,_

_Build a school across the sea,_

_Where Muggles cannot see._

_To teach their kin their learning__ and,_

_Take those who are just like they were,_

_For every young bright wizard,_

_Would study only here._

_But the Founders Four had one hinder,_

_and it was in what they preferred,_

_Like how witty good old Ravenclaw,_

_took not whom had their wit blurred._

_Whereas ambitious Slytherin,_

_Only accepted the best._

_For those with cunning minds ,_

_Slytherin will put you to the test._

_And Godric Gryffindor_

_Took only those who are brave at heart._

_With abrupt nerve and chivalry,_

_A lion does his part._

_And Hufflepuff, we knew_

_Accepted all of those._

_But for all those flawed with loyalty,_

_The badger is all yours._

_But residents of Hogwarts,_

_Whether__ you be fresh or old,_

_Know that Hogwarts is not four,_

_But one, with single core._

_And although I may not like it much,_

_After all I've said today,_

_You must come up and put me on-_

_For I must sort you anyway._

The Hat seemed to bow to all the House tables, and each of them gave roars of approval and mighty applause. Albus even thought he heard some students give loud whoops.

Neville pointed his wand at his throat and muttered a spell before stowing it away in his robes.

"When I call your name-" Neville began, his voice magically magnified. "walk up to the stool to allow yourself to be sorted." Many students, who must have been Muggle-borns, started muttering among themselves. One who wasn't, looked furious.

"That's it!" he hissed, and Albus recognized him as the boy who had climbed in with them. "What happened to wrestling trolls?"

Several students around him gave their nods of agreement, muttering things their older siblings or less serious relatives had told them about the sorting- Albus distantly remembered James telling him it took you the wandless murder of a basilisk to get into Gryffindor, and how terrified he and Lily had been after hearing this. Neville cleared his throat to capture their attention, and then unrolled a piece of parchment.

"Abcader, Roy."

"Ravenclaw." Scorpius muttered, squinting as the orange-haired boy made his way to the stool with confidence, in a very good imitation of Dalton Hilenston.

_"RAVENCLAW!" _the Sorting Hat bellowed, and Scorpius looked smug.

"Oh, come off it." Albus told him. "That was just a coincidence." Scorpius was unperturbed, however.

"Ailan, Richard!"

"Hufflepuff." Scorpius said confidently. Richard, a slightly chubby boy, walked nervously up to the stool and appeared to be breathing quickly as Neville put the hat on his head.

_"GRYFFINDOR!"_

Albus threw Scorpius a smug smirk, but the Malfoy heir simply shrugged it off- he seemed to be having fun anyway.

"I'm trying to see how Dalton does it- maybe he's had practiced- ooh, this girl, Abillium, Kara, she's be a Slytherin, I bet you anything."

_"HUFFLEPUFF!"_

"Slytherin, eh?" Rose asked, sounding amused. Scorpius shrugged again.

"Alan, Judeth!" The sorting hat took a while to sort her, and she seemed immensely disappointed when it did.

_"SLYTHERIN!"_

Scorpius made about a dozen failed guesses, and three correct ones (which Albus refused to acknowledge as anything but luck) before Azaran, Zianna a tall girl with coffee-bean brown skin and straight black hair was sorted into Slytherin. With every sorting though, Albus noticed that all off the house tables would clap politely, even if the new student didn't belong to their house.

"Beckstrat, Rue!" was sorted into Gryffindor. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw got six new members each, Slytherin got four, and Gryffindor two more before Bullet, Kendra was sorted into Ravenclaw.

They flew through the C's- Albus wasn't really paying attention, and even Scorpius had gotten bored of guessing houses wrong and started bickering with Rose about something while Castor, Amouri and Castor, Kian were sorted into Slytherin and Gryffindor respectively. Creevy, Colin, the last of the C's, was sorted into Gryffindor without the hat giving it a second thought.

Dane, CJ was sorted into Gryffindor, closely followed by Dulan, Yara. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw got a few members each, with Slytherin gaining only three more before something interesting happened.

"Johanson, Patrick!" Neville called out, and Albus recognized Rick's mane of blond hair at once.

"Oooh." Scorpius sighed in understanding. "So that's his first name. I thought it was Richard or Rodrick or something."

"Having SpongeBob flash backs here," Rose said with an amused smile, her eyes closed.

"Sponge-What?" Scorpius asked. Rose just shook her head.

"Muggle thing."

"Whatever." Scorpius decided. "We get to see if Dalton was right about him- I don't honestly have a hard time imagining him in Gryffindor to be that hon-"

_"SLYTHERIN!"_ The hat bellowed after about thirty seconds on his head.

"Woah." Albus said. "That was...unexpected."

"Guess I got a new dorm-mate, eh?" Scorpius asked, half-heartedly, though he did look slightly disappointed that Dalton's assumption went wrong. Maybe there was no such thing as guessing houses, which was what he'd been doing for most of the sorting. Dalton was standing up, and clapping the loudest out of all Slytherins with a smile on his face. As Rick sat down with his new house-mates, he narrowed his eyes, glaring directly at someone in the crowd, Albus couldn't tell whom.

They were comfortably silent for most of the sorting until-

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" The hall abruptly stopped its discussion and Neville looked up from his list expectantly as Scorpius made his way to the stool. Albus didn't know what he expected- he thought the hat would take time with Scorpius, would perhaps argue with him about something- but it seemed all but out of argument.

_"GRYFFINDOR!"_ Scorpius froze. The cool, calm look on his face crumbled and Neville had to take the hat off his head and usher him to the Gryffindor table. No one was clapping. No one was making any noise- in fact, several students were openly glaring at Scorpius as if his sorting was all his fault as he stumbled to the Gryffindor table and sat in the farthest, most isolated corner burying his head in this hands.

"Oh, Merlin." Rose whispered sympathetically, after getting over her shock. "He must feel really lonely."

"We'll get him company, won't we?" Albus asked, though with little confidence as Mase, April was sorted into Hufflepuff.

Rose stayed silent.

The names rolled by- and Albus held his breath as Pominille, Lulu was sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Potter, Albus." There it was again. The whispering- the numerous eyes following Albus intently, the curious stares as he sat uncomfortably in the stool. He felt so small, and so nervous, yet the soft fabric of the hat on top of his head was almost comforting as it blocked his vision from the outside world.

_Ah...I've been waiting for another Potter for a while. _The hat said with what Albus thought was an amused tone. He had been told about the hat's ability to talk, but it was still startling and unexpected. The hat chuckled at his thoughts.

_A lot of things didn't go as expected for you, have they, young man? Now...let's take a look at your mind. Ambitious- you want to feel that you deserve your name, that you don't bear the honor of your parents, but that you gain it. That is a quality of a Slytherin, with the nobility of Gryffindor and the will to work hard that fits that of a Hufflepuff. You Potters are always a hard sort, aren't you?_

"Erm...My dad said you take our choices into account. Was he really almost put into another house?"

_Why, yes- normally, it wouldn't be my place to say, but I see he has indeed confided in you before. Your father, was almost sorted into Slytherin, Albus Severus Potter. _

For some reason, this didn't really surprise Albus. He had sub-consciously expected it or something- the house of the snakes was in a new light to him, now.

_Hm...Open minded enough, I see. I hope I don't regret this, Albus Potter-_

"What do you mean?" Albus asked curiously in his mind.

_| am afraid I have to sort you somewhere anyway, though if you ask me, Slytherin would have been a fine option. Maybe Gryffindor if you'd have wanted, but I see you don't want me to take your opinion into account?"_

Albus mentally nodded. He wanted to be sorted for real.

_Yes, all the more brave, making Gryffindor more compatible. Too bad I cannot sort you in either,_

"Wait, what do you mean? Are you going to sort me in a house I don't belong in?"

_You know, there's an old saying that tells us 'There is no place you are where you do not belong.'_

"That kind of destroys the entire point of Sorting."

_Unfortunately, that is a fact I acknowledge - but know this. I am doing it for the better of the school, for reasons you won't fathom now. Talk to me later, Albus Potter. Good luck._

"Wait, where-"

_"RAVENCLAW!"_ This announcement was the loudest yet, and the silence afterwards rivaled that of the one after Scorpius' sorting. But then, there was difference- the Ravenclaw clapped, and hard, too.

Albus was shocked by such an unexpected Sorting, by what the hat had said to him. So much in fact, that Neville had to point him to the sea of bronze and blue, too. Not knowing what to do, he placed himself somewhere random, which also happened to be right across Dianna Peers and Alabastor Morgainne, who ended the round of applause by loud whoops- Albus looked around to see how the others were reacting.

The Gryffindors, shocked, put down ther raised hands which they had held in anticipation. He looked directly at James, who stared at him for a few seconds. At last, his brother shrugged, and gave him a small, encouraging smile. He didn't look disappointed at Albus, but rather at the unexpected turn of events.

The Hufflepuffs were politely clapping, but disinterestedly. By the time they stopped, Neville had already called the next name.

"Congrats!" Alabastor said excitedly, shaking Albus' hand across the table. Dianna was still laughing.

"Oh my God," she gasped. "looked at Dalton! Just look at him!" Albus turned to look at Dalton. The Slytherin Head Boy was repeatedly banging his head on the house table as the people around him laughed. He had been wrong again. But it wasn't really his fault- Albus needed time to think about what the Sorting Hat had said later.

"He's never been wrong three times," Alabastor said thoughtfully. "Old man's loosing his skill."

"Or the Hat is loosing its mind." Dianna offered, and Albus couldn't help but agree.

Scott, Erin and Soyle, Ryan were sorted into Hufflepuff and Gryffindor respectively.

"Shariq, Yasmine!"

Yasmine walked a lot more confidently than Albus expected, to the stool, her blond hair flying up an down as she moved. The hat had a rather heated battle with her, it seemed, as it took her five entire minutes to be sorted.

_"Slytherin!" _the Hat announced, and Albus caught Yasmine's lips curl in satisfaction as Dalton and the rest of the house clapped to greet her. Alabastor grinned again.

"Ooh, he's wrong once more! He expected Ravenclaw for Yasmine."

"Taylor, Alexander." Neville said, and as Alex strode confidently to the stool, he thought he saw him give Alex a warm smile.

The Sorting Hat immediately made its choice.

_"Hufflepuff!"_

All the tables clapped, Hufflepuff being loudest of all. Albus saw Cedric Longbottom, Neville's second son who was a second year, clap him on the back.

"He got that one right," Dianna nodded in approval.

Albus found himself lost in between the bets and comments, as Dianna and Alabastor continued fighting.

Walker, Benedict was sorted into Ravenclaw, and Albus felt obliged to applaud despite the discomfort.

And then...

"Weasley, Rose!" Professor Longbottom called. As his cousin walked over to the stool and stopped mid-way, Albus had to admit he imagined her Sorting another way.

She looked at Albus, alone at the Ravenclaw table, then threw a glance at the Gryffindor table where the rest of her family were. Seeming to take a decision, she picked up her courage and waited to be sorting. About two minutes later, the hat announced her residence in-

_"RAVENCLAW!"_ The Ravenclaws clapped ecstatically, with Alabastor and Dianna whooping again as Rose skipped off to the table and gave Albus a tight hug, which he returned.

"You didn't think I'd leave you alone, did you?" Rose asked, though she threw a look at the Gryffindor table as she sat down.

"Good choice, in my opinion." Dianna told her with a smile. "At least Dalton regained a little bit of dignity."

Rose grinned with seeming nonchalance, but Albus felt his inside churn with guilt as he saw her give the red and gold table another quick glance.

"Wright, Dana." A small girl with wavy brown hair was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Yernew, Naoka." a pretty looking asian girl was sorted in Ravenclaw.

"Zianne, C-Cai-Ciea-Ciadra. Zianne, Ciadra." Neville said, looking extremely sheepish as Ciadra confidently walked up to him.

"It's pronounced 'See-add-rah', Professor." she told him relentlessly, as he blushed a shade of red. Several students snickered.

"Er, of course. Sit down." Neville said, lifting the Sorting Hat sheepishly. It was barely over her head before it screeched-

_"HUFFLEPUFF!"_

"Woah," Alabastor said, clapping. "I didn't quite expect that. Well, maybe Dalton isn't quite as rusty as we thought, eh?" He was about to make another comment, but the lady, the same one who had led the first years, stood up and the Hall fell immediately silent.

Her frosty eyes seemed to scan all the four tables before she gave the school as a whole a smile- she snapped her fingers, and just like that, the stool and the sorting hat had disappeared in wisps of black smoke. Several students started muttering in low tones at this.

"Students, of Hogwarts." she said, in tone not unkind, though Albus noticed Rose frown beside him.

"Welcome for another year here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I will introduce myself for those who do not know me- I am the temporary Headmistress, Adelina Naeva." As soon as she said this, whispers broke out and students started muttering to each other.

"That's not right," Rose muttered to Albus. "She can't just-"

"As I was saying," Naeva interrupted and the Hall fell silent again, "I am only Headmistress for a temporary amount of time as Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, and the Deputy Headmaster Neville Longbottom, who is also the Herbology teacher, will be at Beauxbatons Academy for most of this year, along with Game Keeper and Care of Magical Creatures Professor Rubeus Hagrid."

Again, muttering broke out, but they didn't stop as quickly this time. Naeva didn't seem to mind.

"But why was she-" Rose's question was answered.

"I have taken the time to meet some of you and accompany you to the beautiful ride across our Black Lake," Naeva continued. "And I cherish moments with my students. Know that. Now- the Forbidden Forest on the boundaries of the castle is out of bounds, if the name doesn't give you a hint. Our care-taker, Argus Filch, would like to remind you that no dueling in the corridors is allowed. Check the Notice Boards of your House Common Room for more information on this matter. I would like to encourage our CATs, OWLs, and NEWTs students to study hard for their practice exams so as to score well in the actual finals. Of course, Muggle Studies is mandatory to anyone not Muggle-born, at least up until your third year. Professor Dennis Creevy will be teaching the subject, in case you need any help." She nodded to Profesor Creevy, who was smiling at them brightly, and stood up, waving, He had neat brown hair and a thin mustache. Albus remember Colin Creevy, and knew at once he was Professor Creevy's son.

"Professor McGonagall would also like to inform you of the resignation of three teachers- Professor Tirade, teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts-"

The hall let out a simultaneous groan at this- Professor Tirdae, whomever he or she was, was obviously rather popular.

"Professor Lashwell, of the optional Survival Sensory class, and Professor Adams of Practical Defense and Comabt Techniques. Replacing them will be Professors Charity Fauklake, Ausman Malik, and Nico di Angelo respectively. Mr Ausaman has also kindly agreed to fill in for the Care of Magical Creatures job. Professor Longbottom, who will be at Beauxbaton for most of the year, will be replaced by Professor Avea Lumina."

The school broke into polite applause as the three of them stood- Charity Fauklake was a thin woman in her late thirties, perhaps (about Naeava's age) and her hair was silvery-blond. Her eyes were dark and guarded, and clashed strangely with her silver robes. Professor Avea was obviously not there yet, so Albus assumed Neville would be teaching for a while, at least. One thing was obvious, though- she was glaring at Ni- Professor Angelo openly, and he was glaring right back. Ausman was kind-looking black man who looked much younger, perhaps in his middle twenties. His hair was black and tawny and his eyes were a grayish-green color.

The school applauded them all politely.

"Hey, isn't Professor Angelo that dude on the chocolate frog cards?" Alabastor asked curiously.

"Yeah," Albus told him. Alabastor nodded his head in approval.

"Cool."

The trio of teachers finally sat down, and Naeva continued her speech.

"Flying classes are not mandatory." she added. "That is all there is to say- now, introducing the new Head Boy and Head Girl this year, chosen by not me, but Professor McGonagall herself- Dalton Hilenston and Victoire Weasley."

The Slytherins and Gryffindors roared with a approval at the same time, something not often seen as Victoire and Dalton stood and uncertainly walked to the staff table.

"The Head-Students will present their speech." Naeva added, before stepping aside.

Dalton was the first to go- he smiled at them brightly, then cleared his throat, and took out his wand. Unlike Naeva, who naturally attracted attention, he had to used a spell to magnify his voice.

"Good day to you, all." he began, his voice straight and confident. "I hope that, with your cooperation, we can have a good year. I will be very willing to help anyone in need- ask a Slytherin prefect to go get me if you need anything. That is all. Thank you." His speech was short, but his voice was smooth and persuasive. Several girls looking like they were swooning, much to Leila's annoyance at the Gryffindor table. Dalton nodded, and it was Victoire's turn.

"Likewise." she said shortly, with a bright smile that had the same effect on the boys that Dalton had on the girls. "I'll always be there if you need be- ask anyone in Gryffindor. My partner and I will be both more than willing to help at anytime." She nodded, and shared a brief hand-shake with Dalton before darting back to the Gryffindor table.

"Let this be delayed no more," Naeva said. "Enjoy the feast." she sat down finally, as the table filled itself with mouth-watering food. As soon as it did, colorful fireworks exploded around the room, startling a few students. Albus looked at the Gryffindor table to see James and Fred discreetly high-fiving. His brother caught him looking and winked. Albus smiled. Professor Naeva looked at the fireworks, but looked back down in disinterest as though she knew it was harmless and didn't mind. Albus was just about to pile some food on his plate like Rose was, when an ear-splitting shriek was heard.

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**~The Amazing Slytherclaw.**


	4. Welcome to the Eagles

Several students, Muggle-Born or raised, followed the random person's example as no less that fifty ghosts streamed into the great hall, pretending to be talking and noticing the students for the first time.

Though he had heard about them several times, Albus was still a little shocked to see them for real- ghost were always confided to specially magical places by order of the Minstry, so you wouldn't always come across one- it was a rarity.

Many older students started howling with laughter, Alabastor obviously being one of them as he doubled over.

"I swear that never gets old!" he whispered to them. Rose rolled her eyes, in unison with Dianna.

"You know, my Uncle Fernus said that it used to be different." Dianna said, propping her chin on her hand. "He said they'd take the students to somewhere else and then the Deputy Headmaster would explain everything before they went into Hogwarts- and they even changed the locations. If you noticed, you can't see Hogwarts from the angle the boats are positioned- it's near impossible to glimpse the school. You'd have to ride for a while and turn a few corners to get a glimpse. Don't know why now they've apparently changed this tradition and all Muggle-Borns get freaked out by the ghosts every year. I wonder why..."

Albus was lost, while Rose simply nodded in question. He didn't know why, but it was certainly intriguing. Alabastor seemed like he neither knew this nor cared.

The students settled down and went back to their feasts- Rose looked like she was in heaven. When the desserts appeared on the House Tables, she was way above cloud nine, he decided. He found he couldn't eat however- he felt weird. How would his parents react to him being the first Ravenclaw in the family? And how would Uncle Ron react to Rose's sorting? He knew his Aunt Hermione wouldn't mind- in fact, she'd probably be really glad about it. He didn't think his parents would care much, either...

He had barely eaten anything. He was pondering too much- but by the time Naeva had stood again, Albus was fairly well fed.

"Prefects, escort your house-mates to their dormitories- Head-boy and Head-girl, assist the Prefects of Slytherin and Gryffindor House." she paused, her eyes boring into all of them again, daring them to interrupt. Smartly, no one did.

"Quidditch Captains, Prefects, Head Students, lieutenants, and any other students that hold a place of authority, please meet me by the end of the first week. The time and location will be determined later to you in private. Dismissed."

Half a dozen students from each table, three girls and three boys, stood up to obey the Headmistress. Most of them had to stay back awhile and calm the nerves of several Muggle-borns.

"Hey, why are the staff staying put?" Alabastor asked suddenly while standing up, jabbing a thumb at the staff table. Albus wheeled around to look- he saw that Alabastor was right. None of the staff had budged- in fact, they were all looking at the students expectantly as if wanting them to go out quickly.

Rose opened her mouth to say something, but then an annoyed Prefect pursued them.

She had perfectly wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes. Her prefect badge was worn with pride, and she had an air of authority about her. Somehow, she looked familiar.

"What are you doing?" she asked, annoyed. The four of them exchanged looks and made moves as if to answer- but the girl was having none of it.

"Never mind that now, you're lagging behind." she said pompously. Albus, Rose, Alabastor and Dianna quickly marched up ahead.

"I can't believe she got Prefect." Alabastor groaned. "Can you? No, wait, actually, I can."

"Who was she, anyway?" Rose questioned.

"Belle Wright," Alabastor said simply. "I mean, really. My aunt went to school with her dad- she swears all Wrights end up as Prefects and Head Students. Pompous, the lot of them. Belle's been alright, but her two brothers are just thick and stupid- Gryffindors. She's the only one in Ravenclaw. But they're all perfect- perfect, perfect, perfect. Like-like a family of six James Bonds." he continued as they climbed the stairs.

"Aw, come on." Dianna said, trying to be defensive. "They're not that bad, the Wrights. And they're not perfect. They even have this little sister who came this year-"

"And what house was she sorted into?" Alabastor prompted, turning to look at Dianna and raising an eyebrow.

"-Gryffindor, but-"

"See?" Alabastor said. "She'll end up a Prefect, that one, mark my words. Just like John will, that great prat-" his face darkened as he mentioned 'John', and Albus felt a flare of recognition- wasn't one of James' friends called John?

"We don't know that!" Dianna said, visibly annoyed. "He's a fourth year."

The two of them bickered, and Albus and Rose shrugged in unison- they had nothing to do with it. The Prefects led them up many, many staircases. Albus was almost glad he didn't eat much- he didn't need more weight to pull him down. He knew, from what James told him, that Gryffindor Tower was on the seventh floor. It appeared Ravenclaw had a tower, too.

Finally, they stopped in front of a huge bronze door with an animated knocker which kept flopping up and down- the wall around the door was scorched with black. Muggle-borns stared at it with interest.

"This stop," one Prefect started as they all came to a halt and stopped in front of the door to what was obviously their Common Room. "Is where one Death Eater blasted away the door with a _Reducto _Spell, one which you'll learn in the Standard Book Of Spells: Volume Three during your-"

"Bartleby," someone warned. The prefect cleared his throat and looked sheepish.

"Right, sorry." he said with a rueful grin. A few Ravenclaws chuckled.

"Now," he said, straightening up. "A Death Eater blew up this portion of the wall years ago- and knocked down the old entrance to our Common Room during the Battle of Hogwarts. It was fixed, as you can see, but the scars of battle still remain." There was a moment of silence in which they all took this in.

"Anyway," Bartleby continued. "Unlike all the other four houses of Hogwarts, we do not have a password- but rather a riddle, and rarely does any non-Ravenclaw get past it. This eagle door-knob was rumored to have been invented by Rowena Ravencaw herself after a Hufflepuff student managed to accidentally make out the password some day in 832-"

"_Bartleby!" _the same girl warned. Bartleby looked more sheepish. He blushed and then got hold of the knocker and knocked a couple times. It stilled in his hand and then rose, freezing in mid air before saying;

_"If a spell that starts going at the speed of half a meter per second keeps losing half of its speed per second as well, when will it hit is target?"_

The newly sorted Ravenclaws started whispering among themselves while the old ones simply laughed or rolled their eyes

Bartleby smiled at them and waited for an answer. Albus was confused. It made no sense.

Rose, however smirked at Albus. He groaned. That was like her personal way of torturing him.

"D'you know the answer?" he asked rhetorically. Rose nodded.

"It's really easy- too easy, in fact." Albus looked at her wondering why she wasn't answering. He got a raised eyebrow in response, as if Rose was reading his thoughts- she gave him that look that said, 'this isn't worth answering'.

"But...but." Albus pondered. He _wasn't _a Ravenclaw. How was he supposed to do this? Of course, the fact that several other Ravenclaws were confused comforted him, but he couldn't shake away the strange feeling of not belonging.

"Erm...What target, exactly? I mean, how are we even supposed to answer that if you don't know how far the target is?" Albus asked Bartleby, waiting for a sarcastic answer- he was not disappointed when all the older students, including Alabastor and Dianna, started laughing at him. Slowly, the younger ones joined in too with what seemed strangely like understanding on their faces. Even Rose was laughing.

Albus felt his cheeks burn even after the laughter subsided- he gave Rose a betrayed look. Even the Ravenclaw knocker was laughing at him.

"Excellant answer within a question, dear." it said, before suddenly, much to Albus' surprise, the bronze door swung open.

Rose tackled Albus in a hug, and several passing-by Ravenclaws clapped him on the back.

"You just answered a question without noticing it, Al!" Rose laughed at him, and Albus felt his face redden for a different matter entirely- how stupid was he. They weren't making fun of his question- but rather that he answered the riddle without even knowing he did.

Someone patted his shoulder in congratulation, and he turned around to be met with a smirking Roy Abcader, whom he remembered from the sorting. Abcader gave him a wink and rushed past Albus with the others into the Ravenclaw common room. For a second, he had a burning sensation in his chest which was much like pride, and he stood there, still, with a smile on his face.

Rose grabbed Albus' hand and dragged him with the others into the common room. There was one word to describe it- airy.

The Ravenclaw common room was one of the airiest rooms at Hogwarts. It was a wide, circular room with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling painted with stars. The room was furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases; and by the door leading up to the dormitories stood a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of white marble.

The first years gasped at the sight of their common room, obviously in awe. Albus and Rose walked to a nearby window- a cold breeze showered their drowsy faces, filling them will temporary energy- the view from Ravenclaw Tower was amazing. Albus got a very good look at the grounds- the grass looked a dull gray color under the moonlight at night, and the Forbidden Forest looked almost luring- mysteriously so. The Black lake glinted dangerously in the distance, and the Quidditch Pitch was visible so clearly that Ravenclaws wouldn't even have to go book seats to watch a match.

"It's amazing..." Rose said dreamily, glancing at the books. Albus shrugged- the common room was great, he'd admit. But James said Gryffindor Tower was nice too- he had described it with an air of pride, and Albs doubted he would have that tone in his voice when he spoke of Ravenclaw's CR.

Bartleby the rambling Prefect cleared his throat loud enough to silence the excited whispers of first-year Ravenclaws. The others just looked plain bored.

"Here in Ravenclaw, we don't take nonsense." Bartleby started. "We have to show a moral of intellect and seriousness when it comes to our know-"

"Oh, shove off, old man." a sixth year Prefect said to the annoyed Ravenclaw. Bartleby glared at him. "Let the fifth years give the speech-it's a tradition, remember?" Bartleby sighed, as though he didn't think much of this tradition, but he gave in.

Belle Wright and her fellow male prefect stationed themselves at the front, beside Rowena's statue so everyone could see them. Belle looked excited to give the speech, while the other Ravenclaw looked like he couldn't care less.

"Yes, thank you Darren." Belle said, smiling at the one who'd reminded Bartleby. He blushed a shade of red.

"Anyway," Belle started to continue. "Us Ravenclaws are known for our wit and opened-minds - we have to keep up that reputation and keep living up to the legacy of Rowena Ravenclaw herself. Our house ghost is the Gray Lady, who I'm sure you'll be acquaintance with soon. We Ravenclaws are hard studiers and we-"

"Talk about yourself," the other prefect sighed, finally joining the conversation, Belle huffed in indignation, while some of the other Ravenclaws looked mildly relived, and gladly turned their attention toward the other prefect.

"Ravenclaw, is not all about studying," he explained, which gained him cheers from ever student. He smirked, seeing the effect he was making.

"We throw the craziest parties- well, apart from the Hufflepuffs. You haven't _really _had fun if you've not attended one of theirs. Those 'Puffs really know how to hit it. Anyway, don't worry you scrawny first-years,"(which gave him glares from said first-years)"we're not all study and no play. Most of us don't even study, really- smarts are not all books and memorizing your course texts,"(that made several others blush)"it's about thinking on your feet and knowing what to do. And answering riddles without knowing it." he ended this, greeted by several laughs and Albus' cheeks coloring red hot.

"Great speech, Dick." Belle said with a half-hearted glare. She turned back to address the others. "Curfew for everyone above third-year is twelve, nine if you're below." With a swish of her robes, she ushered the first year girls and started leading them up the spiraling staircase. Rose gave Albus a smile and a whispered goodnight before following her.

The boy, Dick, shrugged his shoulders an climbed after his partner, guiding the boys along the way. Albus' eyes, however, wandered and caught those of Rowena Ravenclaw's statue. Her eyes seemed alive for one scary moment, and he quickly turned his vision down to some words inscribed at the bottom of her statue- _Wit beyond measure, is man's greatest treasure._

He continued walking up the stairs- that saying did not fit Albus. He was no Ravenclaw. He shouldn't have been here.

-O-

"It's spacey," Benedict Walker complained at the sight of their dormitory.

"It's comfortable," remarked Roy Abcader.

"It's...blue." a boy whom he didn't know said lamely.

"Well, blue _is _one of Ravenclaw's two house colors." Albus said reasonably, staring at his bronze and blue tie. It didn't look right on him, somehow.

Their dormitory, the first one on the stop, was large, and had four-poster beds with blue sheets and golden pillows embroidered in azure, and a set of cerulean drapes set for privacy. There was a large window- and large was an understatement- it covered the entire wall- there _was _no wall. Huge blue translucent curtains were draped over the window, but they still had a good view of the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake from there. There was even a small shelf filled with first-year material books.

Roy shrugged, hoping into a bed and effectively claiming it as his own. Albus recognized his trunk at the foot of another bed, and went to it, glad to have an excuse to choose one. The other two boys randomly hopped onto their now 'own' beds. Albus was stuck between Abcader and the random blond boy who'd descried the dorm as 'blue'.

"Hey, I'm Johnathon Derik, by the way-" he said excitedly to the rest of them- he held out his hand to Albus since he was the closest, and Albus accepted his hand and shook it.

"Albus Potter." Albus said simply. Johnathon grinned.

"Yeah, everyone was staring at you real weird when you got sorted," he said in a matter-of-factly voice. "I asked Bartleby and he said your dad defeated an evil wizard. Wicked!"

"Yeah," Ben Walker agreed vehemently. "I'm Benedict Walker- but you'll call me Ben if you don't wanna get hexed."

"You can hex yet?" Roy Abicader asked genuinely, already kicking his shoes off and getting comfortable with his bed. "Roy Abcader. Dick- that's the prefect by the way, he's my brother." he said proudly.

"Oh, well, no I can't hex yet." Ben admitted sheepishly. "But hey, that was a cool speech your brother gave! I was afraid of looking stupid in front of everyone- I'm not that studious. In fact, I'm as dim as a dead bowtruckle! Never expected to get into Ravenclaw, I didn't."

"Same here," Albus said, feeling like he needed to vent some confusion. "All my family's Gryffindor."

"My mother was a Hufflepuff, and my father was in Slytherin." Roy admitted.

"My parent's aren't magical." Johnathon told them.

"Don't let it worry you, though." Roy shrugged. "We'll take Ravenclaw by storm this year! We're going to destroy this tower, demolish this society-"

"-a little too harsh, mate-" Johnathon winced.

"-and rebuild it in a completely cooler way!" Roy finished, enthusiastically and confidently. The others laughed, and Albus managed a small smile. They all settled into bed, but when Albus' head hit the pillow, a frown graced his features.

_They _were going to take Ravenclaw by storm. Albus was not. He just wasn't one of them.

-O-

He woke up with Ben Walker shaking him roughly by the shoulders.

"Albus," Ben hissed. "Merlin, what does it take to wake you up?"

"An angry sister and a blown up door." Albus answered sleepily, digging his face further into his pillow.

"Huh," Ben laughed. "You're delusional, Albus. Come on, you're going to miss breakfast!"

Albus gave a weary 'Mhm..' secretly not planning to get up at all.

"Roy knows how to conjure water," he warned. Albus abruptly sat in bed- and had only enough time to noticed Ben laughing nervously and running out the door. He was sure he had just Ben tricked. He groaned- but got up.

Eventually, he had his robes and his new Ravenclaw tie on (which didn't suit him in the least, in his opinion) and his acacia and phoenix ash wand was at his side. He tried giving his hair a few tweaks, but it was hopeless anyway, just like always. He grabbed his backpack, shoved all his books into it and took a deep breath to steel his nerves.

He bolted down to the Ravenclaw common room- several nervous Ravenclaws were fussing over their appearance, checking if they had all their course books, running hands and combs through their hair. Belle Wright even ran into Dick Abcader, making him fall over with her on top of him. They blushed furiously and got up while the calmer Ravenclaws snickered. Rose was talking animatedly with one blond Ravenclaw girl whom Albus recognized as Kendra Bullet, and she looked just as nervous as everyone, eyeing her backpack every now and then.

She called Albus over to him when she noticed him, looked him over, and then gave him a look of approval as if to determine that no disaster would occur if he kept it up this way. Kendra smiled at him.

"Hello," she said gently- her voice was soft and sweet. Her hair was frizzy and fell over her shoulders, and her eyes were an attractive shade of sea-green. She offered her hand to Albus, smiling. Albus took it immediately, not knowing why. His face heated up quickly, and he blinked a couple times. _What just happened?_

"I'm Kendra Bullet, but you can call me Kenny," she said slowly looking at their clasped hands. Albus blushed in embarrassment as he realized he was still holding her hand. He quickly let it go with a nervous laugh.

"I'm- Al- Al Potter. But you can call me Albus. I-I mean, I'm-" Kendra giggled, making Albus' stomach do a sort of somersault. What was wrong with him? Why did he suddenly feel the urge to do something impressive, or say something funny? Why did he want to impress Kenny- Kendra with his sharp tongue and witty remarks, why did he want to keep holding her hand?

"You're funny," Kendra stated with a smile. She nodded at Rose and Albus. "I'll see you in class," and shot away, her mane of blond hair hopping up and down with excitement. Albus followed her with his eyes until he couldn't see her anymore. He found himself still staring at the hand she'd held before he could his cousin giggling. He turned to Rose, who was smirking for some reason he couldn't fathom, and shot her an accusing look.

"Come on," Rose said. "We'll miss breakfast this way."

She grabbed him by his robe sleeve and pulled him out the Common Room.

-O-

She had too much pride to admit it, but Rose was lost. And Albus was lost with her, too. It was really lucky that they stumbled upon the group of wandering Slytherins. Dalton Hilenston was leading a group of about thirty Slytherins trailing behind him- Dalton noticed them, and smiled.

"Lost, are you?" he said kindly. "Want to tag along?"

"Y-yes, please." Rose said, admitting defeat. Dalton nodded and she pulled Albus along with her into the group of Slytherins- all of them were first years. Albus caught Rick's eye in the crowd the same moment as the blond caught his. He grinned and made his way to them.

"Hi," Rose and Albus said in unison,

"Hey," Rick said casually, smiling. He wore his green and silver tie with nonchalance and didn't seem to mind being a Slytherin at all. The other Slytherins were giving them wary looks, but didn't speak to them as they followed Dalton down the stairs.

"So, had trouble finding the Great Hall like the rest of us, then?" Rick asked, making small talk.

"Um..."

"Yes," Albus answered instantly, getting a betrayed look from Rose.

"Us, too." Rick said, looking around as they climbed down a moving staircase. "I mean, this place is _amazing, _but it's really easy to get lost in here. Dalton said he'd been moving up and down trying to find students to help- the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors didn't accept- they said they'd go with the Head-girl, but a couple of Ravenclaws came by and went- so, how's Ravenclaw for you?"

"Great," Rose said. "There's this _huge _library, and then, then there's the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, and did you know that we don't have a password to the common room, but a riddle?" she kept talking for a while. A few Slytherins occasionally sneered in low voices, but Albus frowned and it ignored it. In return, Rick gave them a detailed explanation of how the Slytherin common room was located in the dungeons and how when you said the password right, green light flared up from several creepy torches lighting the way to the dungeons.

Some of the other Slytherins glared at him for this, but he took no heed and kept talking as much as Rose about how amazing he thought it was- how he couldn't wait to learn magic and get started. Feeling left out of the conversation, Albus interjected with mentioning the large window that showed them the Forbidden Forest in their dormitory. Rose's eyes lit up with envy, and Rick looked in awe.

"You can hear water in the Slytherin dungeons." he told them. "We're under the lake! A lot of students panicked when they knew, kept thinking someone would blast their way through the walls and then we'd all drown or something."

Rose and Albus were alarmed at this piece of information. It went like that until they turned a couple times and then ended up in the Great Hall- it was slightly different in the morning. Albus looked up to see that the ceiling viewed a clear cloudless day outside the ancient walls of Hogwarts. The hall was buzzing with excitement and many students were chatting. Albus and Rose thanked Dalton, said goodbye to Rick, and wove their way to the Ravenclaw table where everyone was a mass of nerves. Albus scanned the table, and smiled unintentionally as his eyes landed on Kendra Bullet, who was talking with a girl with dark hair...Her name was Erin something, if Albus remembered right. But wasn't she a Hufflepuff?

"What are you looking at?" Rose asked him, spreading some marmalade on her toast, her food already piled. She noticed Albus' empty plate and set herself a new job- building him a food Mt. Everest as well.

"Nothing," he answered. "Just wondering if that girl over there with Kenny is a Ravenclaw or not-"

"That's Erin Scott, she's a Hufflepuff." Rose confirmed through a mouth full of marmalade.

Albus' eyes bulged. "You can sit at different house tables?"

"You can," a new voice confirmed. Albus turned up in time to see James, in all his Gryffindor glory and followed by his group of three friends, Aaron, Fred, and John, sat down beside Albus and casually helped himself to a slice of ham Rose had put in Albus' plate.

"Um, hi." Albus said, surprised that his brother had opted to sit.

James grinned. "'Llo. Well I wanted you to know I have a bone to pick with you- you made me loose a bet to Wright here." he pointed at John, who looked smug.

"Come on, James," Fred groaned sitting beside his cousin as well. "there are four other houses and you only picked one."

"You thought he'd be Gryffindor, too!" James insisted, clearly accusing Fred of hypocrisy. Fred shrugged as if to say he wasn't the one who took the sucker's bet, and Aaron snickered.

"But you kept telling me all summer that I'd get into Slytherin!" Albus protested indignantly, his face heating up with rage.

"I wasn't serious!" James protested.

"I thought Sirius is your middle name?" Aaron asked. They all stood in silence before the five of them burst into laughter, Albus hesitantly.

"So...you're not, er, cross?" Albus asked, not meeting his brother's eyes.

James looked at him blankly. "'Course not." he said very seriously. "I mean, it's not like you've gotten into Slytherin- not that I would have minded either way. But...well, I may have wanted us to be in the same house, but that's okay I guess." James said.

"I pity you." John declared. "You have to deal with Belle's ramblings."

"She's your sister?" Rose asked, looking surprised. "I honestly didn't know you were related."

"My last name is Pyman for future reference." Aaron said. Albus would later sheepishly admit he didn't know that as he didn't much associate with James' friends.

"And mine is Weasley." Fred said with a straight face, only to force the five of them into another round of laughter.

"We-we're not forgetting your name, you idiot." Rose managed through laughs.

"Yeah," Albus said with a smile. "How is she to forget one of the two prankster who filled her play-bag with toy aracumantulas?"

"John made them and gave them to James and me," Fred complained half-heartedly ("It's James and _I_, Fred." Rose sighed at his lack of respect for grammar.).

"Back to houses..." John said, changing the topic uncomfortably.

"Oh, yeah." James said. "Yeah, you can sit at different house tables, and you can even get into each others' common rooms if you accept the consequences of giving a rivalling house your password. You Ravenclaws are lucky buggers in this." James stood up and ruffled Albus hair, making a great weight lift off his chest as he gave a sigh of releif- James didn't mind. He only had to write his parents that day and give them the news.

"We're going to go not scheme the next prank," James whispered.

"Oh, no you don't, James." Fred said. "Us responsible fourth-years will go worry about our pre-OWLs this year while you completely ignore your CATs." Fred said. James groaned.

"You're just using that as an excuse to spend more time snogging your girlfriends- don't even try to deny it, I saw you!"

Fred smirked, but didn't deny it as he and John left, this time with Aaron and James running behind them with complaints.

"There are pre-OWLs?" Albus wondered.

"Oh, there are." Rose answered through another mouthful of bacon. "And pre-CATs and NEWTs as well. They're basically like practice exams- pre-CATs, OWLs, and NEWTs are like those practice exams for the actual tests. Like...like mid-term exams. So far, only first-years get it easy. Our second, fourth, and seventh years will all be pre's and- OH! Albus, look-" Rose's expression turned from genuinely chatty to horrified.

Albus looked. And he did not like what he saw.

Scorpius came running through the Great Hall with who was unmistakably Victoire tailing him with a worried expression, guiding him somewhere. His face was hidden, but the rest of his skin was visible- his complexion had turn a pale green color. On the far side of the Great Hall, the laughs of several Gryffindors could be heard.

**YAYYYYY! I'm basically done with exams, so I'm writing this in celebration- yes, I have most of the series planned out. So...**

**(ALL CREDIT OF THE WRIGHTS TO FantasyWorld1, who has now become an assister of sorts in planning my series. Thank you, FantasyWorld1!)**

**So, who's your favourite character so far? What do you like most about the series? Etc...Etc...**

**For me, the best Albus Potter series there is is the one written by NoahPhantom. He's awesome, that guy. And Andy. Let's nt forget the master plotter Andy :D.**

**If you have any suggestions, or if you want to have a character named after you, then go ahead! **

**Happiness and Freedom of Sudies for the Next Four Months + random Capitalization,**

**-Ambs the Ravenclaw**

**(P.S, what house are you in on Pottermore?)**


	5. Frozen Cores

Albus and Rose were on their feet in seconds. Victoire was already out of sight, so they followed her direction, ignoring the laughs from the Gryffindor table.

"Who did this?" Albus asked, feeling rage flow through his veins.

"The Gryffindors, who else?" Rose sneered. Albus stopped abruptly, trying to let that sink in, and Rose had to pull him along again.

"What?" he asked, utterly shocked. "Why would they do that? He's their housemate?"

"I don't know." she hissed. "Er, excuse me," she said to one of two guys who were chatting and sniggering.

"Did you see um, a boy with green skin and the Head Girl walking through here?"

"Yeah," one of them said, sniggering. Albus immediately disliked him.

The boy pointed at a spiraling staircase above them- "They went up there. Hospital Wing, obviously."

The two of them snickered as Albus and Rose scrambled away quickly, following them.  
They asked a couple students for direction until they successfully made it to the hospital wing, where a middle-aged nurse fussed over Scorpius, who was refusing to come out of a ball he had crawled into. Victoire stood nearby, trying to explain the situation

.  
"Scorpius!" Rose gasped as soon as they were there. The school nurse turned to them with a disapproving look.

"Oh, whatever are you here for?" she asked, frowning. "Hasn't the poor boy had enough as it is? Shoo!"

"It's okay Madame Dewhill. They're his friends." Vicotire said.

"Well no matter, he still-"

"Madam, they're just checking on him, right?" she threw looks at Albus and Rose, who nodded frantically.

Madam Dewhill huffed. "All right, then, but only a few minutes until I get the potion ready. I don't want to see any of you after that!" She turned to her private store-cupboard as soon as Albus and Rose turned to Scorpius.

"What in Merlin happened?" Albus asked, as he and Rose walked over to Scorpius' side, who was groaning and still refusing to look up.

"Irresponsible Gryffindors happened." Victoire said. Scorpius muttered something.  
"What's that?" Vic asked kindly. She leaned it to hear better, comprehension dawning on her.

"Ah. And Wheeze's products, too, apparently."

"But who did this?" Rose asked furiously. "And why? Scorpius, you didn't get into a fight did you?"

"Hardly." Scorpius said sarcastically, finally looking up. His face was even worse off than his body. It was slimy and scaly, like- like a fish. Or…a merperson. Victoire, Albus and Rose immediately recoiled and Scorpius buried his face in his hands again. He looked weird in green- like those funny aliens Teddy always showed them in comic books.

"Ooh that's….bad." Rose said flatly. "Real bad. Did…did you see who did it?"

"I did," Vicotire assured her, her pretty silver eyes becoming narrow slits. "Jerks, they were. Didn't even expect punishment- but don't worry, I got them covered. Detention with Filch for a week, and twenty points from Gryffindor."

"But not they hate me even more!" moaned Scorpius through his hands. "They probably blame me for losing those points and the detentions."

"Well, they should blame themselves, then!" Al muttered hotly.

Madam Dewhill walked in with a sizzling blue potion and pushed it into Scorpius' crossed arms, forcing him to reluctantly look up.

"Take this quick- your skin will be tinged a faint blue for a while, but you'll be fine. As for those scales….well, I have another potion in my cupboards for that, just wait." She didn't look the least bit surprised at Scorpius' face condition. She sighed and then turned to Albus and Rose.

"You two'd better hurry as well, you don't want to miss your schedules being handed out, now, do you?"

"But what about Scorpius?" Albus protested. "He's our friend- we can't leave him." Scorpius looked at Albus with a blank stare which had confusion drawn all over it.

"Yes, and he'll follow you two in just a second." she assured. "Now shoo!"

Albus and Rose had just missed the schedule distribution. Jonathon Derik gave them both copies of the schedule, but they surveyed it with less enthusiasm than expected.  
"Oy, did you go after that Malfoy bloke?" Jonathan asked curiously. "Tough luck he had, huh?"  
"You have no idea." Rose said glumly, looking over her schedule. "It says we have Transfiguration with the Gryffindors and Defense with the Hufflepuffs before lunch, then double charms with the Slytherins after, today."

"Bloody hell, they're bonkers!" Roy Abcader said in horror as he skimmed through his own schedule with a dubious expression. "Who teaches classes on Saturday, anyway? Mental, the lot of them are! Check this one out!"

Albus looked at his own schedule half-heartedly- Roy was right. The classes they had on Saturday, however, had little numbers on top of them, from one, to twelve on each class in order. They had those classes with all houses.

The first class was Wandlore followed by Survival Sensory, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, Divination, Practical Defense and/or Combat Techniques, Political Studies and Philosophies, Ancient Runes, Healing, Wandless Magic, and finally, Debate.

"These are your third year optionals," Belle Wright explained from across the table.

"Every week on Saturday, for an hour, you try each of these in order to see which one you liked. They made it so because a lot of people were quitting third-year classes after discovering they didn't like them or didn't find them educational enough, so now they're having you see for yourself which classes you prefer. That's great, really, but the catch is that you'll not be able to drop any subjects except if you have special permission from that subject's professor."

"Cool!" Ben Walker said. "What do we take in Debate?"

"Oh, that." she smiled. "Well, we have a monthly debate for every year, seventh years down to first years. It's really fun- you even get a lot of house points!"

"It's not as fun as first-year Quidditch." Dick Abcader grinned. "It's hilarious!"

Rose nudged Albus, knowing that Qudiditch was the entire Weasley/Potter clan's obsession. But Albus was too lost in his own thoughts. How could anyone do that to Scorpius? Especially his own housemates- how dare they? What had he done to them? And what had Scorpius done to deserve such harsh treatment from his own housemates- he was friendly and nice to them at the Express, and very chatty.

"First year Quidditch?" Rose asked when she saw that Albus wasn't going to comment on it.

That was Rose- always going to any extent to cheer people up. She didn't like choosing sides, nor did she like having anyone fight. She was smart, too. But she had only one fault- it was hard getting her to budge once she made her decisions, no matter how insensible they were.  
"Yeah!" Dick said excitedly, as if he was hoping someone would ask. Belle rolled her eyes at him.

"Since a lot of first-years weren't good enough to make it to the actual teams, some genius suggested the idea of first-year Quidditch. If you're good enough, you _can _make it to the house teams, but some are usually not. And you know the funniest thing?"

"What's Quidditch?" Jonathon Derik whispered to Ben Walker at the same time that Roy and Rose said, "What?"

"The first years get tutored by players from the other team!" His grin was that of a maniac's as he explained. "Slytherin captains Gryffindor and Gryffindor captains Ravenclaw. Naturally, that leaves Hufflepuff to captain Gryffindor and Ravenclaw to captain Slytherin- it's funny because you have to coach others from rivaling house, but if you botch up their performance, then the other teams may try to ruin your first-year house team's performance, so you can imagine how it goes. Before it used to be the captain that earns the points, but then the players started messing up on purpose so the rivaling house doesn't earn any points, so now it's the team that wins points."

"But it doesn't make sense," Rose said, now looking intrigued. "Why not just have a flying instructor or someone from your own house coach your first-year team?"

Dick shrugged. "It's supposed to bring the other houses together. Codswallop, if you ask me. Everyone still thinks most Slytherins are murdering bastards, half the population of the wizarding world believes Hufflepuffs are useless spares, most everybody think us Ravenclaws have our noses glued to books twenty four seven, and it's either Gryffindors are heroes, or arrogant prats. There is no way in the bloodiest of hells that someone will get over these prejudices."

"Abcader!" Belle chided, glowering at Dick, who just shrugged. "Language! And they're first years, don't say that! Your speech manners are horrid."

"You know you think it's adorable," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Belle huffed but didn't say anything. Several girls giggled

.  
The bell rang, loud and piercing.

Albus looked at the Gryffindor. Scorpius still wasn't there.

"He's still not there." Albus muttered. "Why isn't he here?"

"He will be." Rose said firmly. "We have Transfiguration with the Gryffindors next, remember? He'll have to be there."

Belle, who had Charms next class, offered to lead the first-years to the Transfiguration class since their classrooms were close. She led them up to third floor before leaving them beside a door where some Gryffindors were lined, though not all of them. They all were staring at the ceiling in shock.  
"It's him!" a brown haired boy whom Albus recognized as CJ Dane from the Sorting said excitedly. "I swear I saw his feet poking out of the ceiling just no!"

"Who?" Rose asked.

"The legend," CJ sighed.

"The one we've all been told about!" Kian Castor said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Who? Where?" Jonathon asked, his head turning from side to side.

Albus and Rose looked up, too- they saw nothing.

"PEEVES THE POLTERGEIST!" CJ and Kian said at the same time, jumping up and down in pure excitement, admiration shining in their eyes.

"Where, I don't see hi-AAH!" Rose was pelted by a red ball of...something, and she was now covered head to toe in it. It was a slimy, Jell-O like substance that looked terribly slippery, wet, and disgusting. A maniacal laugh sounded as a similar ball-thingy, except it was blue, nearly got Roy Abcader and was splattered on the wall, catching an indignant portrait instead.

And sure enough, Peeves the Poltergeist was there, floating in the air and cackling like a mental case as he pelted them with the gooey stuff. He got Albus with a green one- the stuff was slimy and slippery, and Albus found himself trying to stay still, looking around desperately for something to hold onto- he failed, fell to the floor with a resounding 'thump'.

The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws screamed in protest and indignation as they were pelted by several slime-balls, but it took someone worse than Peeves to drive him away...  
"PEEVES!" Argus Filch, the care-taker Albus heard his Uncles bashing several times, stormed into the corridor looking as deadly as someone could get while holding a cleaning broom. He was old with long hair and bent knees. His right eye seemed to be twitching maliciously as he ran on, he was fast for someone his age. His facial hair was white and wispy, and his eyes shone with a furious light.

"THAT'S IT, I'M GETTING YOU KICKED OUT THIS YEAR, JUST YOU WAIT YOU GODDAMNED POLTERGEIST!"

Peeves cackled and floated around the corner with old Argus Filch running after him top-speed.  
CJ Dane sighed with a look of the highest standards admiration, his face dripping wet with orange gunk. "He's my hero."

"Are you mental!" Roy Abcader screeched. "How are we supposed to get into class like this, the Professor will fu-furi-furious..." he trailed off, his eyes landing on something; or rather someone.

The Professor was not furious. In fact, he was quite indifferent. He walked into the corridor, tall and serious, without so much as a glance at the wet first years. Albus quickly scrambled to his feet, fell again, and then attempted to stand up with Rose's assistance, which thankfully worked. The Professor let out a tortured sigh and finally turned to them- he was significantly tall, with salt-and-pepper hair. His nose was long and straight and his eyes were cold and strict. Albus immediately knew he was someone not to cross.

He whipped out his wand so quickly you wouldn't have seen it, causing several students to back away unexpectedly. He huffed as if this was a common occurrence.

"Scourgify." he said with a wave of his wand. Albus felt a strange, light sensation tingle his body. All the slimy substance vanished off the students in an instant, though the students' skin was still tainted and tinged. The Muggle-Borns looked at the Transfiguration Professor in awe.

"Well?" he inquired, his eyebrow raised. "What are you waiting for? Get in." It was impossible to know whether he had asked them a question or made a statement- his voice was that flat. He gestured calmly toward the door. The first years awkwardly shuffled into the classroom and took their seats. Albus and Rose settled down at the middle. CJ Dane and Kian Castor were seated across from them, apparently decidedly best friends from then on.  
"My name is Professor Obydin Higgins. I will be teaching you Transfiguration this year, and hopefully up to your seventh year if I do not randomly drop dead." His tone was morbid, but his voice was calm, smooth, and sincere.

"The first thing you should know is that I do not tolerate stupidity. Ask me any question any number of times you wish if you haven't understood it the first time, but I do not repeat my words for those who have blatantly not been paying attention. Now, class, I want you to-"  
A knock brought the class out of their thoughts. Professor Higgins sighed.

"Come in?"

The door. was opened awkwardly again and Scorpius poked his head in through it with a sheepish look. His skin was now a light shade of blue, but nothing else. His face was smooth and pale as always, not a scale in sight.

"Erm, sir, I'm sorry I was late. May I come in?"

Professor Higgins sighed through his nose, but nodded. Scorpius hesitantly made his way into the class as several Gryffindors looked like they were holding back sniggers. He stopped at Albus and Rose's desk and looked at them, as if waiting for approval. Albus budged to let him sit.

Scorpius gave them a grateful look

.  
"May I inquire the reason behind your tardiness Mr...Malfoy?" Professor Higgins asked, squinting at Scorpius as if to confirm her really was who he was.

"I-I was in the hospital wing, Professor." He said, and a tinge of pink was barely visible on his now blue cheeks.

"Is that so?" Higgins asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly indicating he didn't believe a word of it and wouldn't without proof. "Are you sure someone...hm, perhaps Peeves the Poltergeist was not responsible for the unfortunate change in your skin tone?"

The Gryffindors didn't bother hiding their snickers this time, but a cold look from Higgins silenced them at once.

"I-It was a prank, sir. I was pranked." Scorpius said firmly, meeting the Professor's cold gaze with surprising bravery as if daring him to disbelieve. "A prank by a couple fourth-year Gryffindors. The Head Girl escorted me to the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey gave me a potion." he said, refusing to drift from what he thought was the truth.

"Have any of you witnessed this?" Higgins asked the class in general, straightening up. Obviously, everyone had. Everyone who had been at the Great Hall at that time, at least. CJ and Kian exchanged looks, while a few more Gryffindors shuffled nervously. But one had a ready answer.

"No, Professor Higgins." he remarked. He was a rather plump, but tall boy for his age. His brown, mousy hair hung over his forehead in bangs, and he looked like he was trying to suppress a smirk. The Gryffindors fell silent as Professor Higgins stared at boy. Scorpius looked horrified.

"But- sir.." Scorpius stuttered.

"Professor, that's not true!" Rose protested, her face red with anger on Scorpius' behalf.

"Sir, please, we saw him in the Great Hall- we even saw him in the Hospital Wing." Albus added desperately.

Higgins stared at Albus for a second, his cold black eyes boring into his soul- then, he felt a sharp pain in his head, and started massaging his temples instinctively. Professor Higgins stopped staring.

"Does anyone else have anything else to add?"

"Well, we weren't at the Great Hall Professor Higgins, sir, but someone did tell us someone pranked some bloke." CJ Dane reluctantly admitted.

"Hm." Higgins muttered. "In that case, ten points from Gryffindor for lying to a Professor, Mr...Ailan."

Ailan threw a glare at the trio of Scorpius, Albus, and Rose; it was official. Their dislike was mutual- the trio glared right back.

There was no major incident after that, though. Professor Higgins went into reciting theory and explaining how the intent was more important than the incantation. He taught them the proper wand movements wand movements and how to pronounce the words right. No one spoke a word throughout his class- only Ailan dared to glare at them between taking notes, and they gladly returned the favor. No questions were asked. No practical magic was done. But everyone was listening raptly to what Professor Higgins was saying. When the bell rang, he dismissed them without a word.

"I hate Transfiguration." Scorpius decided as they walked out of the class. "I really, really hate it."

"I don't know..." Rose said. "He did take away house-points from that Ailan boy. Oh, yes, which reminds me- Scorpius, what happened? Did you get in a fight?" she asked anxiously.

"You first." Scorpius said awkwardly.

"Peeves." Rose and Albus answered in unison. Scorpius looked confused, but didn't question anymore.

"Fourth-year Gryffindors." Scorpius said silently, though Rose and Albus already knew this. "Said I shouldn't have been allowed in the school and that I was tainting the name of their noble house."

"That's nonsense!" Albus said angrily. Rose was fuming.

"That's why they did this to you? Because you're a Malfoy and almost all your family's been in Slytherin? That's not justifiable!"

"The others thought it was..." Scorpius muttered glumly.  
"But why?" Albus questioned. "Our dads weren't friends in school as far as we know, and we didn't care. Why should they?" They had suddenly stopped walking. Scorpius was staring at the floor awkwardly, refusing to meet their eyes.

Then, without warning he mumbled a barely audible 'Gotta go to Herbology...' and ran up a spiraling staircase before Albus and Rose could catch up.

Classes resumed more or less normally after that- Defense with the Hufflepuffs was alright. Ciadra waved to them in class- Rose looked panicked for a second before waving back, and Albus managed to raise his hand awkwardly.

Professor Fauklake was actually a very interesting woman- she had a natural air about her that made students maintain silence without being asked to. She rarely awarded points, and refused to repeat her words again. Despite this, she was a very good teacher. The things she said had a way of sticking in your head no matter what. Nothing practical was done, and they were dismissed with a nod.

Charms, was however, by far, Rose's favorite. After eating a quick lunch at the Great Hall (they missed half of lunch trying to find it after getting a couple wrong directions from snickering older students), which Albus and Rose noted Scorpius hadn't attended, they were ushered to the Charms Classroom. It was cheerful and yellow, with walls that had animated black stripes moving around the walls like a dark train repeating its cycle again and again. Several quills were floating around in mid-air, looking like dancing couples in an invisible ball in the air. Professor Phospheria, a lady with long mahogany hair, was their teacher. Albus was quite sure half the male population of the class had a crush on her. She spoke freely and airily, and explained her subject with enthusiasm.

But the best thing about her, was, perhaps, how competitive she was. Professor Phospheria was head of Hufflepuff, which made her a fair woman. This being said, she gave them a little warning their first day.

The class gaped at her when she conjured several buckets filled with what looked like ice-cold water.

"By the end of this week," she said with a misguiding innocent smile. "You Slytherins and Ravenclaws should all be able to levitate each of these buckets over your partners' heads- if they last for over thirty seconds, then you have mastered the spell."

"And if they don't...?" Zianna Azaran squeaked, looking nervous.  
Phosperia just smiled mysteriously and said a single word that filled them with dread; "Splash."

"That wasn't bad." Rose said in a weak attempt to lighten the mood as they walked out of Charms. "I really like Professor Phospheria."

"I really don't like Professor Higgins."

"But he took points off of them!" Rose protested. "Didn't he? I mean, he believed Scorpius after he had pro- hey!" she shouted indignantly; a chubby boy had just knocked her books down with a harsh shove to the shoulder.

Albus looked up to see who it was as Rose bent down to pick them up- it was the Ailan boy from Transfiguration. He towered above them, sneering.

"What's your problem?" Rose said, standing straighter once she was done picking her books. She had obviously noticed that he had knocked down her books purposefully.

"What's your?" he shot back. "Now thanks to you, Gryffindor's lost points on the first day!"

"That's thanks to you." Albus said coolly. "It's not our fault you lied- and you know Scorpius was saying the truth."

"Malfoy?" Ailan sneered again. "He's not supposed to be in Gryffindor- did you realize what just happened at the sorting? The hat put him there immediately! He's obviously up to some-"

"Oh, back off!" Rose said angrily, her eyes flashing. "You would have lost points either way- I'm not going to waste my time having this conversation. Scorpius is our friend, and bullying isn't right."

"It's not bullying when it's the right person you're aiming it at, Weasley. Aren't you Potters and Weasleys supposed to hate Malf-"

"What's going on here?" someone said- Albus and Rose turned, hoping it was a Prefect, or Dalton or Victoire. It wasn't.

Instead, Albus caught the blond hair and blue eyes of his god brother, Cedric Longbottom, a second year Hufflepuff. He was a typical one, too- handsome for his age, helpful, and dreadfully kind. Albus quite liked Cedric. He liked all the Longbottoms, really; Augustus, Cedric, and the little twins Alice and Frank. But nobody couldn't like Ced- he just had a natural atmosphere about him that made anyone take to him immediately. Simply putting it, he was not intimidating in the least.

"Oi, what're you three talking about?" he wondered curiously. "Are you lost? The Great Hall's that way-" he jabbed a thumb at the staircase behind them.

Ailan sneered, which he seemed to be doing a lot now. "We were just talking about pranking Mal-"

"Oh, that? Yeah, Victoire told me. Really awful of those blokes to do that, and on the first day of school, too, huh?" Cedric asked in a genuine conversation, speaking to Ailan. Ailan huffed and scowled at a now very bewildered Cedric, apparently labeling him as well as Albus and Rose hopeless cases, and walked away.  
"What's with that bloke?" Cedric questioned, his expression bemused.  
"Just a prejudiced idiot." Albus said dismissively. Cedric's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

He shook his head in defeat, and ushered them to follow him down the stairs like the helpful Hufflepuff he was.

"Thank you," Rose said to him when they reached the Great Hall, now buzzing with hungry students, starving for their dinner. Cedric just smiled.

"No problem. Though I was going to the store rooms."

"Hogwarts has store rooms?" Albus asked, confused.

"Oh, yeah- people rarely go there because the classes are already stocked, but dad wants me to bring that animated Hogwarts banner he's going to take with him to Beauxbatons."

"Why can't he just conjure it?" Rose wondered.

"You can't conjure anything from the store rooms. There's a charm there to prevent that from happening- anyway, I've got to run. See you, Al, Rose!" Cedric said, flashing a smile before running off again.

Albus and Rose headed toward the Gryffindor table- Scorpius was nowhere to be found.  
"Where do you think he went?" Rose asked worriedly. "Oh, that Ailan person is horrible. So are those fourth years! I just don't understand."

"Neither do I," Albus admitted, his forehead wrinkling as he frowned. He just couldn't fathom why is was so important about Scorpius being a Malfoy- Albus didn't know much about the Malfoy family, only that the Weasleys and his dad seemed to have some sort of rivalry with them.

Rose and Albus reluctantly moved toward the Ravenclaw table for dinner where most of the first-year Ravenclaws were chatting excitedly about their classes.

"So...So...did you tell your parents about, you know, getting sorted into Ravenclaw?" Rose muttered. She and Albus exchanged a look.  
"No," he admitted. "I didn't have time to, yesterday. Did you?" he asked, already knowing the answer since Rose had been with him since the previous day. Rose responded in the negative.  
"We can go send them after dinner." she offered. "We can ask someone to help us get to the owlery. You can even use Venus if you want, Al. She can carry two letters well enough." Venus was Rose's pretty dark owl- she sometimes called her, 'Sooty' since her feathers were so dark and black.

"Yeah, that'll do well, thanks." Albus said. He hadn't gotten a pet- it just didn't feel right to bring one yet.

Rose sighed and began to eat with less gusto than usual.

After the two young Ravenclaws were finished with dinner, Rose let Albus borrow a piece of parchment and her quill as she pulled out a spare. Both the cousins shared a look before shrugging and putting their quills to the parchment in sync.

_Mum and Dad,_

_Hogwarts is cool- you really weren't kidding when you said it was big! I met a few people on the train- you know the bloke that came with Nico? Rick? I also shared the compartment with Scorpius Malfoy. He's a really nice guy, too. I don't know what Uncle Ron has against the Malfoys. And then there was this really odd girl named Ciadra (that's pronounced See-add-rah). She started pointing out every house's faults and Scorpius got mad at her for calling Slytherin 'broken' or such, but he didn't get Slytherin! It was strange….he was so sure. He got into Gryffindor instead. Rick went to Slytherin and Ciadra to Hufflepuff. James and his friends had these huge fireworks going out in the Great Hall- the substitute Headmistress didn't mind. Her names' Adelina Naeva, and she said Neville and Prof. McGonagall and Hagrid (will he still be there on Friday for tea?) were going to Beauxbatons. Isn't that the school Aunt Fleur went to? Do you know what that's about?_

_Rose and I got Ravencalw, though I think she only got there because of me. I think she wanted to be with me to make me feel better about it. It just feels really wrong to be a Ravenclaw- like it's all false. You know?_

_But the common room is cool, and so's our dorm. The Ravencalws aren't as uptight as I thought. Did you know the door to the common room was blown up by a Death Eater sometime during the battle?_

_The classes are alright. I like Charms so far, but Defence isn't bad, either._

_We got attacked by Peeves the Poltergeist before Transfiguration, and Filch came running after him. Is that normal or something?_

_How's Lily? She didn't break anything else down, now, did she? _

_Al_

Albus scanned his letter- it was all random rambling, really, but it was enough not to show he was nervous about the reply he would get.

Albus and Rose exchanged letters (Rose's letter was a lot longer than his) before heading to the Owlery with careful directions from an older Hufflepuff who was chatting with Dick Abcader at their table.

The route to the Owlery was surprisingly empty and silent- Albus and Rose were alone. They walked uneventfully to the Owlery- the place itself was equally dead quiet, which somehow made Albus feel extremely uneasy. A cold feeling at the pit of his stomach told him something was very wrong. Rose swallowed as if sensing how unnatural it was for hundreds of owls to remain quiet.

Their letters gripped tightly, the duo made their way through the stained floor which was littered by hay and dropping- Venus, or Sooty, immediately flew to Rose.

"Hey, Sooty." She smiled at her owl. Sooty didn't greet her with the usual hoot, worrying both of them ten-fold.

"Um, can you deliver this to Mum and dad, and Tinny?hen this one to Uncle Harry and aunt Ginny?" she asked timidly.

Sooty allowed Rose to tied the letters to her leg, but did not reply with a hoot. She nipped Rose's finger before flying out of the several windows.

Albus shivered, suddenly feeling extremely cold. Rose shuddered beside him- it was more than cold. His very soul seemed to lack its warmth; his mind was frozen blank, and his teeth were chattering. The owls stopped ruffling their feathers and looking beneath their wings. Utter silence was greeted; not only were there no hoots, but a dropped pin could be heard because of the intense vacancy of volume in the Owlery.

"Al- it-it's re-really cold. D-d-d'you feel it? It's cold but…n-n-n-not th-he norm-m-m-al cold." Rose stuttered, hugging herself. Albus hadn't noticed he was doing the exact same thing until then. He felt chilled to the bone.

"L-l-let-'s ge-get out of here!" exclaimed Albus, suddenly feeling panicked. The two first-years shared one scared look before running out of the Owlery, top-speed. They were to scared to notice that their hurried footsteps didn't leave any resounding echos, or even the slightest sound for that matter.

**Ta-ta! The first bit of actual plot! Yaaaay! Well, in case you're wondering it this is going to be a Albus-Rose-Scorpius trio fic, then it definitely is! After all, no one can resist the Malfoy charm! *wink***

**So, I'm really enjoying this so far….Who's your favorite character? D'you ship anything yet? It maybe a bit too early for this, but hey, an author's got to ask! (Answer for more cookies ;D)**

**RRs:  
**

**OffMyHead: Haha, welcome fellow Ravenclaw! I can imagine why- most Albus Potter fics feature Albus in either Gryffindor or Slytherin. I've only seen one Hufflepuff fic and none Ravenclaw. Here's a cookie for your review! (::)**

**Guest: Thanks! I had to rewrite that song about three or so times….Here's yer cookie! (::)**

**Princess Of Flames****: Thanks! Here's your review cookie! (::)**

**Taylor Hepworth: Well, hel-lo housemate! Here's two cookies for reviewing and being an awesome Ravenclaw! (::) (::)! Also, I'd love to be Pottermore friends, but I keep forgetting my username, see. They're ridiculously difficult to remember!**

**Create-gunner1209: I like Vekin's work, too, but NP's remains the best. Cody and Andy are just amazing. Here's your cookie! (::)!**

**Haylee: Thanks, Hay! Here's your cookie(s) (::) (::) (::) (::). (Lol, I know it's biased that you get four, but whatever!)**

**Bye! See y'all next chapter!**

**(Thanks to my awesome, plot-partner FantasyWorld1!...Whom without, I wouldn't have had the tiniest idea where to go with Albus' romantic life…)**


	6. Let Them Have Cake

The next day, Albus and Rose awaited their letters with thumping hearts- they had rushed down to the Great Hall as fast as they could (Albus ran into Kendra, who was walking out of the charms corridor, apparently lost, and was reduced into a blushing heap) and took hasty seats in the Ravenclaw house table. Albus quickly loaded some omelets on his plate as Rose toasted her bread with marmalade.

The two Ravenclaws shared a look at the Gryffindor table to see if Scorpius was there, and Rose dropped her toast onto her lap in shock. Albus did a double-take. Scorpius _was _there. And beside him, a very indifferent Ciadra was trying to make conversation. It seemed awkward and one-sided, but Scorpius didn't seem to be pushing her away.

Albus and Rose looked at each other. Then at the tables. Then at each other.

"Well.." squeaked Rose, absentmindedly trying to wipe the marmalade off her skirt as she took a new piece of toast. "He may have….They may have…forgiven each other?"

"I seriously doubt Ciadra held anything against him in the first place." Albus said thoughtfully, remembering the girl and her attitude on the train.

"She's not bad, you know.." muttered Rose. "Just a little bit….eccentric, shall I say. I think we really did judge her a bit harshly-"

"By 'we', of course, you , mean us, excluding you." said Albus, knowing how afraid Rose was of upsetting anyone. "But I really think it isn't a all good and well to go bashing houses like that."

"Well, she _was _kind of right." laughed Rose nervously. "Which Slytherin is 'a tool' as she put it…or, well, a follower."

Albus frowned and remembered some of the sneering Slytherins that had stared at Rose and him. He pointed this out to Rose though he didn't think it was really fair, who nodded.

"Which Hufflepuff is overly loyal?"

"…Cedric Longbottom?" Another nod.

"Who from Ravenclaw is a 'know-it-all', yet can't see the simplest thing?"

"I'm not sure about that one," Albus said defensively.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Albus, you and I both know it's Belle. She recited the school book description to me yesterday when I was practicing the levitating charm in my dorm. But she can't even look at Dick Abcader and think twice."

"We're drifting off subject," Albus said, annoyed and blushing. Why did girls always have to go down _that _way?

"And which Gryffindor is a mindless prat?"

The cousins shared a look and answered in unison;

"Richard Ailan."

"But not all of them are like that," Albus argued back weakly. "I mean, you and I are Ravenclaws, and we're not know-it-alls. Well, not me, at least-" here Rose threw him a playful glare "- and Scorpius is a Gryffindor, but he's not a prat. A little defensive, yeah, but not an out-right jerk. Rick is a Slytherin, and he's quite a good bloke. _She's _a Hufflepuff, but she's not outrageously helpful."

But Rose wasn't listening- her face lightened. "Albus," she whispered excitedly. "Remember what Dick Abcader said? About the prejudice against the houses? Maybe she wasn't talking about what she _thought, _but what the others did think- the wizarding world! Maybe she was just trying to talk us into ignoring where we're sorted because all the houses aren't perfect, in any way."

"That isn't exactly a topic to bring up in a casual conversation, Rose." argued Albus.

"But the way she said it, it seemed like that was what she meant…" Rose said, deflating slightly.

Albus thought this over- he thought of Ciadra's casual tone as she threw about ever little fault of the four houses, how she ended it with a plain, 'I'm just trying to point out that no matter what house you get sorted into, you'll always have a fault…' His jaw dropped.

"She was comforting us, Rose." Albus said, blinking a couple times. "She wasn't insulting anybody- wow, you're right. She _is _insanely eccentric. But, I mean, this doesn't exactly have to mean she wants to be friends or anything. It'll be a bit awkward."

"Awkwardness does not make it worth avoiding." Rose said firmly.

"You're a girl! Figures you'd say that."

Rose was about to open her mouth and say more, perhaps that her being a girl had nothing to do with it, but then, the morning owls swoop down in a d collective sea of colorful feathers- Sooty, who easily recognizable by her coal-black feathers, swooped down and greeted Rose with a soft hoot and a nip on the finger. She had two long pieces of parchment attached to her sharp claws, which Rose carefully untied.

"This one's yours, Al." Rose said, giving Albus his letter. He whispered hurried thanks and stared at the parchment for a few seconds, biting his lip. He wanted to open it, but shove it in his trunk and keep it there for the rest of the year as well. What did his parents have to say about him being a Ravenclaw? What other news did they bring?"

His hands shaking slightly with anticipation, Albus unfolded his letter, and read its contents.

_Dear Al,_

_It's your mother here. Dad's out doing some Auror work as I write this, but I'll tell him you wrote- I'm sure he'll be ecstatic_

"Rose, what does ecstatic mean?" asked Albus nervously.

"It means, 'delighted'," she explained while reading her own letter.

"Oh...OK."

_Good job on making Ravenclaw! We definitely weren't expecting it, but now that you're the first in the family, I suppose you'll just make the best of it- your Great Aunt Muriel was a Ravenclaw, you know? Though I'm not quite sure you want to speak to her about it- she isn't exactly the best person to carry out a conversation with._

Albus snorted. Great Aunt Muriel had the conversational skills of a hippgriff.

_Scorpius? Scorpius MALFOY? Are you sure? …..Wow. I'm sorry for the lack of vocabulary, but I just can't find any other words for it- a Malfoy, in Gryffindor? He must be the first now in generations! Now, I'm not going to chose your friends for you, Albus, but be careful. I'm sure Scorpius is a nice guy, but we don't have the best relationship with the Mafoys. I'm not sure, though- you might just be the one to change that._

_I think the Ciadra girl is righ, by the way- in every way, all houses have their faults. She kind of reminds me of your Aunt Luna in her indifference. Give her a chance._

_I've heard about Adelina- she's quite the woman for the job, actually. McGonagall's been thinking of retiring now. She says she's getting too old for the job. Naeva worked in the Department of Misuses of Magical Artefacts for a bit, according to your Aunt Hermione, and then she moved on to be a book writer. I hear she's a very skilled duelist, too._

_Hagrid will_ definitely _be there on Friday- him going to Beauxbatons was a nice cover-up picked up by Headmistress Naeva- he's actually going to visit Olympe Maxim, his long-time (really long!) girlfriend up near Paris. He'll be back before you can say 'bowtruckle'. As for what's going on in Beauxbatons….well….I'm not supposed to tell you this, and I can just see your father shaking his head at me right now, but Beauxbatons had just sent a letter to Hogwarts in the summer, inviting them there so they can discuss reviving the Triwizard Tournament now that the world is safe- load of tosh, if I myself might say so. You know what the Triwizard Tournament is, don't you? It's the one your dad got into when he was fourteen. Albus, please, do me a favor and please DON'T put your name in there when you come of age. Just..don't. With our notorious Potter luck, you'll probably get chosen. The same goes for Rose, and your siblings. I'd tell you to warn James about this if I didn't know that would only motivate him to participate, and that the entire school would know by the end of the day with that big mouth of your brother's._

_I had no idea about the Ravenclaw Common Room door, by the way. But it's an honorable mark. Enjoy your classes. Do your best, and try to fit in. Trust me- eventually, you'll feel at home at Hogwarts. Everyone does._

_Lily's fine, thanks for asking. I took her out to your Aunt Luna's today. Now I'm sitting here, sipping tea with Luna, Audrey, Hermione and Fleur as we watch Lily, Hugo, Lorcan, and Lysander play. It made her feel better- the twins are younger than her and they'd get to watch _her _go to Hogwarts before they did, for a change. Aunt Audrey also wants to tell you to try and keep Lucy out of trouble- you know how she is. Angelina's not here, but I've got a feeling she'd like it if Fred didn't send home another toilet seat, though I doubt your Uncle George would mind very much- he's got about three of them hanging over the mantel. Of course, James goes without saying._

_Remember what I said- have fun and don't let James influence you! Dad will write when he gets back, I just thought I should calm your nerves with this- yes, Al, I know you're nervous. Get over it._

_Love,_

_Mum._

Albus sighed in immense relief. A feeling that had been weighting him down seemed to have disappeared and he let a small smile grace his lips. Beside him, Rose smiled, too.

Albus tapped her on the shoulder and gave her the letter so she could see his mother's answers as to why and where so many teachers were leaving to Beauxbatons.

"Ooh," Rose said. "I didn't ask mum. Thought she wouldn't answer." Rose began chewing happily on bacon once again.

"What do you think about this?" Albus asked. Rose shrugged.

"It's exciting, but we can't get in until we're older."

"Our mothers would rather we not get in, anyway." Albus pointed out. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Please," she said through a mouth-full of toast. "like you or I or anyone else would listen. I'm not going to be putting my name in goblets anytime soon, but I'm pretty sure I'll be in the mood when I'm older. Or something."

"OK, so maybe you have a point there." said Albus sheepishly.

The bell rang, and Rose and Albus jumped. Rose looked longingly at the breakfast she had been somewhat distracted from, but Albus took a look at his schedule and smiled.

"We've got Muggle-Studies with all the houses."

Rose grabbed a roll and finally gave in, picking up her bag.

"Where do you think the Muggle-Studies class is?" Albus wondered having been absolutely perplexed by the huge castle in his short stay.

"Why don't we ask him?" Rose said, tilting her head in the direction of someone- Albus turned around and saw Dalton Hilenston wandering around with his group of first-year Slytherins with three or four Ravenclaws and two Hufflepuffs in their midst.

Albus felt greatly relived at the productive Head Boys presence. He did not want to wander around blindly, particularly since Rose's sense of direction wasn't very reliable. He turned and spotted Victoire standing up with the first-year Gryffindors at the end of the hall, but Dalton was closer than she was.

The two were allowed into the group without much talking- a nod from the cordial Head Boy was all it took.

"Hey," someone from the crowd said, and Albus felt a light tapping on his shoulder. He expected to turn around and see his friend, Rick Johanson, but he saw that it was Yasmine Shariq, Dalton's girlfriend's little sister who he'd predicted would end up in Ravenclaw, but was sorted into Slytherin instead. Albus hadn't talked to her much, really, and she looked quite strange in her Slytherin uniform…almost…different.

"Uh, hi." Albus said, giving her a reluctant smile.

Yasmine stared at him quietly for a second as they continued walking, her eyes glinting, and Albus shuffled nervously under her gaze.

"You're friends with Kendra Bullet?" she finally blurted out in a early strained whisper. It was Albus' turn to stare. His cheeks turned a light pink for a moment.

"I guess I am," he said, immediately wishing he could kick himself for such an outward answer.

"Oh." Yasmine said. Another pause .

"She's kind of weird." Yasmine said. "I'd be a bit wary around her if I were you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Albus asked, feeling defensive.

But Yasmine only shrugged. "I don't know," she muttered. "Just a feeling. " And just like that, she shrank back into the crowd of Slytherins.

Albus was feeling slightly irritated at her, but a flare of recognition rose up in his mind. It was like an old memory, something he had known, but forgotten. It was like losing something in the sea and then ending up finding it while you were fishing the other day. A blurry image flashed upon his eyes, but he couldn't fit it into the puzzle that was his memory. Shaking his head, Albus continued to walk, determined not to let anything ruin Hogwarts for him.

-O-

Muggle Studies was the most interesting class so far. Professor Creevy took them to an empty classroom with shiny white counters, equally shiny tables stocked with supplies.

"Is this Muggle Studies, or cooking class?" A Slytherin grumbled.

"Today," Professor Creevy said, ignoring him. "we're going to experience for ourselves how Muggle cooking is different from the wizarding one."

"Does it matter?" the same Slytherin asked.

Professor Creevy gave him a sharp look. "In fact, it matters more than you can think, Mr…"

"Joyce."

"Joyce. As I was saying before Mr Joyce here interrupted, that's what we'll be doing today. The person with the largest amount of batter by the end of the class will get twenty points for their house."

The students exchanged looks- 'largest amount of batter' didn't make sense, but no one spoke.

"Now, robes, away, kids!" Professor Creevy said cheerfully.

"Um, what, Professor?" someone squeaked, straining their ears as if to make sure they had heard that right.

"You're all wearing _something _under your robes, aren't you?" Professor Creevy asked anxiously. "I mean, people stopped wearing plain robes years ago."

The class exchanged uncomfortable looks before nodding.

"Robes out and away, then." Professor Creevy said, sighing in relief.

Albus threw his robes over his head in one quick motion, not wanting people to stare- but others were too busy taking out their own to look at anyone else. That moment of awkwardness passed, and in a matter of minutes all the robes were piled in the corner.

"Colin," Professor Creevy called, and Colin Creevy separated himself from the line of Gryffindors, giddy with excitement.

Professor Creevy gave his son a thick pile of colored aprons and told him to pass them around- when he reached Albus and Rose, he gave them both winks. Albus blinked. Suddenly, Colin seemed distantly familiar. But the moment passed, and Albus and Rose, like everyone else in the room, at that moment, tied the blue aprons around their waists. Albus felt awkward about this- he'd never really cooked before, and the apron felt embarrassingly like some sort of dress, but seeing as all the boys were uncomfortable with their aprons as well, he was could live with it. Besides, for some reason, seeing Scorpius with a red apron was hilarious. Scorpius caught a snickering Albus staring at him from across the classroom/kitchen and rolled his eyes at him.

'You're not any better,' he mouthed to Albus, shaking his head. Feeling considerably immature, Albus stuck out his tongue at him. For the briefest of moments, Scorpius smiled, and looked like he was almost about to do something immature backed, but then he stiffened his resolve, raised an eyebrow in a practiced manner and gave him a look like, 'I'm the heir of Malfoy and you're looking like a dumb kid right now.' But then he burst out laughing, and Albus felt triumphant for about two seconds before he turned around and caught a sheepish Rose giving him bunny ears behind his back. Since Scorpius was making no move toward them, Albus and Rose decided to step beside him themselves. They greeted each other like nothing had happened yesterday, though Scorpius did blush a light pink, when the trio saw Richard Ailan glaring at them. Needless to say, three pairs of glaring eyes were fixed on the Gryffindor.

Professor Creevy gave them all batter in a huge, blue bowl, which, as far as Albus was concerned, was equally measured. No one had 'more batter' than anyone else. Then, though, Professor Creevy made them experiment with an electric egg-beater (which was, as he constantly reminded them, charmed and not really electrical because electricity was sent haywire by the atmosphere of magic Hogwarts provided) and things were crazy. He made them try to stir cake batter with the mixer, because "While wizards can take care of such things with a lazy wave of their wands, muggles have to actually work hard. And, also, as a bonus, everyone gets cake by the end of the class!" he said cheerfully, and most of the class erupted in cheers as they watched Professor Creevy put a large round-shaped kind of container the size of a table in an oven- no doubt magically expanded.

"I'll go get some important equipment," Professor Creevy told them. "I'll be back in a few moments. Don't make a mess, students." And so he left.

Albus didn't think there was anything particularly hard about holding something that could whisk for itself, but then Professor Creevy pulled out a couple of normal whisks to give some students after he had run out electric ones.

Albus envied the students with the normal whisks. Or maybe he didn't, really. Because despite the loud whirring noises that prevented students from talking, and the batter on his face and in his hair, it was really quite fun. At some point, two Hufflepuffs , fighting over who got to hold the electric mixer, managed to splat a huge gob of batter, much to Albus, Scorpius and Rose's glee, right on Richard Ailan's face. The Gryffindor gasped in surprise and shock, and then, becoming temporarily stupid (or maybe, Albus mused to himself, he was just born that way), he dropped his whisk, dug his palm into the bowl of batter, and hurled it in the direction of the two snickering Hufflepuffs who were trying (and failing) to look apologetic. The two Hufflepuffs ducked, and the batter, instead, hit another Gryffindor girl's face. She gasped, and her face twisted in anger and annoyance as she sent a glare at the equally batter-faced Richard Ailan, who shrugged at her and tried to smile through the creamy substance, like 'Opps'. The girl clearly did not take kindly to being hit in the face for no apparent reason. Her brown hair dripping with the white stuff, and a faint blush barely visible on her face, she scooped up batter in both her hands, raised it over her head, and threw it full force at Ailan- he took his cue this time, and, unfortunately, jumped out of the way. The cake batter ended up splatting against the wall, trickling down and leaving faint trails of white instead.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Someone yelled, and then suddenly, batter started whooshing around, hitting everyone, making their robes (which were innocently sitting in the corner) messy and splattering everything in sight. Laughs echoed around the classroom. Some people were yelling for it to stop, running for coverage.

And that, was how Albus, Rose, Scorpius and the girl who'd been unfortunate enough to get hit in the face by something Ailan had dug his fingers into, were under a table, covering their faces and occasionally poking their heads out from under the table to see if the fight had stopped. They were all battered (no pun intended) beyond recognition, and Albus only knew it was Rose beside him because of her messy red hair, and her familiar laugh. Albus himself had a crazy grin on his face- he didn't know why he liked it. All that gooey stuff being thrown around and hitting people. But he just did- it made a sort of rush flood his veins.

Scorpius looked reluctant- like he didn't know what to feel about it- but then he laughed, forgetting for a second to be a mighty pureblood.

Albus wiped batter off his face. Rose and the girl wiped their faces over their aprons. The girl had memorable features- brown eyes, brown hair.

"Are you a Wright?" Rose asked. The girl stared at her for a few moments, as if only now realizing who Rose was. She blinked once. And then again.

"Um, y-yeah," she said cautiously. "Dana Wright. You're-"

"Rose Weasley," Rose told her. The girl bit her lip- Albus felt annoyed.

"Oh, that's cool." She said. "So you must be Albus Potter, right?" she asked Albus, obviously trying to keep her tone casual, but Albus thought he sensed some awe there.

"Yeah," Albus said, also trying to maintain casuality. "And this is Scorpius Malfoy."

Scorpius wiped the batter off his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt, and tried to look all high and mighty once again, and he offered Dana his wet hand. Dana smiled.

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Mr Malfoy," she said formally, shaking his hand, though she was smiling. Albus and Rose snickered.

Scorpius blushed. "As it is to make yours," he retorted. They all laughed again, until stray batter found its way under the table and smacked Scorpius' face. Again.

He groaned.

"This s too much," Scorpius muttered. He slipped from under the table, stood up, and stayed there. Scorpius had succumbed to the food fight affect.

"If you can't stop them, join 'em." Dana said, and in turn, she, too, joined Scorpius at pelting others with batter.

Of course, Albus and Rose lasted only a few minutes afterward. His logic numbed by the excitement, Albus was keen to join by the time. Rose was a tiny bit reluctant, but peer pressure eventually beat her regard for rules.

Even when there was no batter left, people because scooping its remnants off walls and floors and re-throwing them all over again.

Ten minutes later, Professor Creevy returned.

Albus was ju-u-u-st about to dump the contents of a bowl onto Rose's head while she wasn't looking when he saw the Professor. Every student froze, apparently just now realizing the trouble they were in.

Rose looked like she was about to cry- or at least Albus thought she was upset- her face was too smeared to tell.

Professor Creevy, however, stood in the corner steadily holding several towels, a knowing look on his face.

"Stop." He ordered unnecessarily. All that could be heard was the buzzing of a few electrical mixers and the slight worried sniffs from some students. Only Colin Creevy was giggling as his dad approached.

Professor Creevy looked around, and his eyebrows rose. "This is rather impressive," he said. "I haven't seen a mess this big since James Potter's first year." He continued walking through the classroom/kitchen, picking up bowls and seeing how much batter they had in them.

"Are any of you in possession of anymore bowls?" he asked after a moment. A single hand rose- a girl wiped some white stuff from her face. It was Ciadra, and her bowl was clutched protectively in her arms. Professor Creevy beckoned to her and she obediently handed her bowl over. He beamed at her and glanced at her yellow apron.

"Twenty points to Hufflepuff, Mrs.."

"Zianne," Ciadra said, looking mildly pleased.

"Well, congratulations, Mrs Zianne." Professor Creevy continued. "You've managed to keep a lot of batter in your bowl. I've come to realize that a food fight is inevitable with first years. Hence this test of self control." He smiled at the class. "You can do change into your robes, and if they've been smeared too, then come to be and let me perform a cleaning charm on you. And then," he placed Ciadra's bowl on a counter. "then, Collin, as muggle Queen Marie Antoinette said-"

"Let them have _cake!" _Collin declared, and Professor Creevy smiled.

The cake was plain, but delicious, and for the rest of the class all they did was eat until Professor Creevy glanced at his watch. The bell rang.

"Off with you, then." Professor Creevy smiled. "Don't expect every Muggle Studies session to be cooking. We were just experiencing muggle work first-hand. Next class, I have a surprise for you."

The class perked up. Despite the fact that some "high-standard" pureblood students were slightly disgusted, no one could argue that the class was far from dull.

But then Albus noticed Professor Creevy do something weird. He set down his fork and blinked once. Then twice. He looked confused.

"Dad?" Collin, who had apparently also noticed this, asked worriedly.

"I'm quite all right," Professor Creevy said (though it was clearly a lie, to Albus) before Collin could even ask if anything was wrong. "And that's _Professor _in class, Collin. I think I'll just see Madam Dewhill." He frowned. "Yes, I may need to visit her. Now, what are you all doing, standing around like that? Class dismissed.

**Sorry, haven't updated in a while! Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, and special thanks to FantasyWorld1, my amazing Plot-pal!**


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